ERIC ED490469: American Indian Studies in the Extinct Languages of Southeastern New England

American Indian Studies
In the Extinct Languages of
Southeastern New England

■B-

Dr. Frank Waabu O’Brien

Aquidneck Indian Council

American Indian Studies
In the Extinct Languages of
Southeastern New England

*

Massachusett-Narragansett Revival Program
A project for the reconstruction of the extinct American Indian Languages of

Southeastern New England

Dr. Frank Waabu O’Brien
Historical Consultant

Former President, Aquidneck Indian Council, Inc.

12 Curry Avenue
Newport, RI 02840-1412
e-mail: moondancer_nuwc@hotmail.com
http://www.rootsweb.com/~rigenweb/IndianPlaceNames.html

This project was funded [in part] by the National Historical Publications and Records
Commission (National Archives and Records Administration), The Rhode Island Council
[Committee] for the Humanities/National Endowment for the Humanities, Expansion Arts,
a joint program of the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts and the Rhode Island
Foundation, The Rhode Island Indian Council, and the Aquidneck Indian Council.

*

WUNNOHTEAONK

MAY PEACE BE IN YOUR HEARTS

*

Copyright © 2005 by Francis J. O’Brien, Jr., 12 Curry Avenue, Newport, RI 02840-1412,
USA. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,

photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the author.
Printed in the United States of America.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

O’Brien, Francis Joseph, Jr. (Waabu)

American Indian Studies in the Extinct Languages of Southeastern New England
p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

1. Wampanoag language — glossaries, vocabularies, etc.

2. Narragansett language — glossaries, vocabularies, etc.

3. Miscellaneous Algonquian languages — glossaries, vocabularies, etc.

I. The Massachusett Language Revival Project.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number:

*

They want to dry the tears that drowned the sun
They want laughter to return to their hearts
They want to go home ^ to Mother and Grandmother
They want to hear their ancestral voices ‘round the fire

*

v

Legal Notice — All images and textual citations are used with permission or are in the
public domain. When full attribution is missing, consult a standard work such as Trigger
(1978) for more details, or the U.S. Library of Congress website, at http://catalog.loc.gov/ .
Front cover: photograph, “American Indians at the Narragansett Indian Church,
Charlestown, RI (1930s?)”; courtesy of Great Bear (Charles Weeden, Newport, RI), former
Board Member & Website Manager, Aquidneck Indian Council, Inc.

VI

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORD

Chapter I.
Chapter II.
Chapter III.
Chapter IV.
Chapter V.
Chapter VI.
Chapter VII.
Chapter VIII.
Chapter IX.
Chapter X.

Chapter XI.

Chapter XII.
Chapter XIII.

JL

T

The Word ‘Squaw’ in Historical and Modern Sources

Spirits & Family Relations

Animals and Insects

Birds and Fowl

Muhhog: the Human Body

Fish and Aquatic Animals

Corn, Fruit, Berries & Trees &c

The Heavens, Weather, Winds, Time &c

Algonquian Prayers and Miscellaneous Algonquian Indian Texts

Prolegomena to Nukkone Manittowock in that Part of America
Called New-England

Guide to Historical Spellings & Sounds in the Extinct
New England American Indian Languages
Narragansett-Massachusett

Bringing Back our Lost Language: Geistod in That
Part of American Called New-England

At the Powwow

vii

A CKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To my daughter
Miss Lily-Rae O’Brien

FOREWORD

Indian Metanoia and Geistod

This monograph contains 13 self-contained brief treatises, listed in the Table of
Contents. These chapters comprise material on linguistic, historical and cultural studies of
the extinct American Indian languages of southeastern New England. These Indian
languages, and their dialects, were once spoken principally in the States of Rhode Island
and Massachusetts. They are called “Massachusett” and “Narragansett”. These Indian
tongues are a subset of a larger group of about three dozen Indian languages called the
Algonquian language family.

The manuscript summarizes work over the past decade relating to the
documentation, analysis and reconstruction of these lost and sleeping American Indian
languages. The primary focus is comparative Algonquian vocabulary and elementary
grammatical structures, derived from the scholarly linguistic and anthropological literature,
oral tradition, and the authors own (hypothetical) reconstructive contributions.

Our objective is to reach a diverse audience interested in these old Indian
languages. As such, my approach is quasi-historical, linguistic and phenomenological.

Each chapter contains vocabularies and extensive grammatical notes relating to
individual topical areas. For example, the paper in Chapter III, “Animals & Insects,”
shows translations and glossary notes for about 100 names for Animals & Insects taken
from the extinct American Indian Algonquian languages of southeastern New England,
Narragansett and Massachusett. Comparative linguistic data are selected from the Pequot
language, Ojibway, Abenaki or Wampano for purposes of comparison, or when existing
terms for biological species were not recorded by the missionaries documenting the Natick-
Massachusett or Narragansett languages. Reconstruction of such words in Natick-
Massachusett or Narragansett may be modeled on these terms from similar Algonquian
languages. Occasionally the author suggests his own reconstructions for words never
recorded by the Colonial missionaries.

Each chapter follows the paradigm just described. Some papers, such as in
Chapters I, XI and XII, are more speculative, with regard to modern usage of old Indian
words (“Squaw”) and language revival or reconstruction efforts, and the issues involved in
regeneration of the Indian languages lost to time and human historical evolution on this
land.

JL

ir

Published and unpublished authors and commentators, both Native and non-Native,
disagree on the time period when these American Indian Algonquian languages became
“extinct.” Estimates range from 1 to 2 centuries ago, depending on the definition of
“extinct” used. What is believed to be certain is that no one living today has heard a
speaker express themselves as a fluent speaker in those languages and dialects that once
filled the Algonquian villages, wigwams, woods, fields and mountains in those parts of

America called “New-England”. No extinct American Indian language has ever been
brought back to life, as was the case with the Hebrew language in Israel 1 .

The major European names associated with the recording and documentation of the
vocabulary, grammar and dialogue of mainland Narragansett and Massachusett are the 17 th
and 18 th century Rhode Island and Massachusetts missionaries; i.e., Roger Williams
(Narragansett Language), John Eliot (“The Apostle to the Indians”, Massachusett, Natick
Dialect), Josiah Cotton (Massachusett, Plymouth-Cape Cod dialect), and others listed in
individual essays.

As would be expected, the extant Colonial records and documents from this period
leave much to be desired from a modern perspective. The data and information are scanty,
ambiguous, inconsistent, and prevalent with “noise”. However, the heroic efforts of the
Christian missionaries who attempted to translate the Bible, record the vocabulary,
grammar and dialogue of a people who spoke a language vastly different from the
European Romance tongues, must be respected. And their works are what must be used as
significant inputs into any extinct language revival efforts.

Figure 1, below, shows the historic ancestral homelands of the major Indian nations
and tribes in southern New England (the gray-shaded region) . Here we see what are
believed to be the Indian Nations who spoke fluently some dialect of the Narragansett and
Massachusett languages (Pokanoket 2 Nation, Massachusett Nation, Nipmuck Nation,
Pawtucket Nation).

Figure 2 displays a reconstructed map of Colonial Rhode Island, from Rider (1903);
see full reference citation in Chapter XIII (“At the Powwow”). This map is interesting
because it documents a substantial number of Rhode Island Indian place names no longer
in existence in contemporary government data bases. Approximately 2/3 of Indian place
names on this map have been lost to time 3 .

1 See Burk hard Bilger (1994). “Keeping our Words”. The Sciences. (Sept./Oct.).

0 Note that the Pawtuckets (or Pennacooks) lived above the Massachusett Indians, one of the major
tribes/nations speaking the language Massachusett.

2 “Wampanoag” in modern terms.

3 Two other recent and related online public Internet publications are:

• American Indian Place Names in Rhode Island: Past & Present. © 2003, Dr. Francis Joseph O'Brien,
Jl'., http://www.rootsweb.com/~rigenweb/IndianPlaceNames.html

• Bibliography for Studies of American Indians in and Around Rhode Island, 16 th -21 Centuries.

© 2004, Dr. Francis Joseph O'Brien, Jr. http://www.rootsweb.com/~rigenweb/IndianBibliographv.html .

X

Eastern

Abenaki

MAINE

l*a« ala**
Dover 'ajh

VERMONT

Concord i

NEW HAMPSHIRE

J,York Village

Wester

*Schaghticoke

Ipswich |

AgaRjnTj^

.■Gloucester

(Deerfield

° Cu nituc£

Nashav

Lancaster |

C harles.K

Nonantum

Newton -

MASSACHUSETTS

Nipmuek

Sfj. ^Milton ■ Weymi

j\Massaehusett Wessi ’ 81

Nep 0 "^ Stoughton
, ■ Brockton

M Springfield

■ Marshfiod

Agawam I

P.ymoutha<

CONNECTICUT

■ Middleboro

Windsor*/
Tunxis (
Hartford ■ f
Wethersfield «S

I Providence.

RHODE ’
_ ISLAND
NarraganseU

Pokanoket

•Barnstable

B ’ £tc ,

Narraganseili

NEW YORK

'Naugatuck

Qoiripi

■ New Haven

rNiantic&r

Martha's Vineyard .

Weekapaug

: , . ,*•> s ““

i)

ffkffloek /

Nantucket I.

Atlantic Ocean

Matinecock

1 Kilometers

Fig. 1. The broad white lines show tribal territories (ancestral homelands). A black square
indicates a modern non Indian town. A large bold-type name refers to an Indian Nation (e.g.,
Massachusett), the smaller bold-type names indicate tribal subdivisions (e.g., Neponset), present

day State boundaries are indicated by dashed lines and State names are capitalized (e.g.,

MASSACHUSETTS), and geographical features are italicized (e.g., Atlantic Ocean). Source:
Bruce G. Trigger (Volume Editor), Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 15 ( Northeast ), ©
1978. Washington, DC: The Smithsonian Institution (Page 160). Used with permission.

XI

0 tltnillvdll

1 tort* im.eKfiU<t
3

V Grl 9 C« ster
•f SrnitShcld.
fc Lincoln

7 r«*t*T

I jiktuotc

ft CraniC*n

" N» rt>| >n>v.<t«ct-«-

'4 '’rowtdence.

'3 Aiwtuc«»C

/f W*«n»»«fcet
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41 VVoitorlw
ff C>>*rl«itiwr) ‘

Oo 7am«it«*»n
J< ■Portl*no«».th

oj Newport*
jtf Ttvtrt»n
J S' Lifflt Ctim^Lo*^

MAP or THE

COLONY or RHODE ISLAND

giving the.

INDIAN NAMES OF LOCATIONS
\ the locations or great events in Indian history
Present TbllUcal Divisions Indicated.

STDNEY S.’ RIDER

Pmidtnu. Rhode. Island 1?o3

t. Act.f hjn i. <V ijta. I<U l, 5M„,
*f ffcLiSrenofi of. Ceiyrtn 3 et Wai tfi n ^tJ

j 5 Ridar in tyc Off* i

Fig. 2. Old Colonial Map of Rhode Island. Courtesy of The Rhode Island Historical Society Library.

The following figure, Figure 3, summarizes the major historical and contemporary
inputs to the process of language revitalization, recovery or reconstruction of Massachusett
and Narragansett. More detailed historical and other technical information may be found in

xii

Vol. 17 of The Handbook of North American Indians, edited by Dr. Ives Goddard, Senior
Linguist, Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

JOHN ELIOT

• Indian Bible (1663, 1685)

• Grammar Book (1666)

• Other Religious writings

NOT THE WAY INDIANS SPOKE

ROGER WILLIAMS

• A Key into the Language
Of America (1643)

• Narragansett language

• Same language, spelling differs
CLOSE TO WAY INDIANS
SPOKE

JOSIAH COTTON

“Vocabulary of the Massachusetts
Indian (Natick) Language (1707, 1830)
• Wampanoag dialect, Plymouth

JAMES H. TRUMBULL

‘Natick Dictionary (1903)

Vocabulary & some grammar
From ELIOT, WILLIAMS, COTTON

GODDARD & BRAGDON

• Native Writings In
Massachusett (1988)

SIMILAR

ALGONQUIAN

LANGUAGES

Massachusett-Narragansett Language Revival Program
©Aquidneck Indian Council, F.J. O’Brien, Jr.

Mar. 1998, 2005

Fig. 3. Historical and Modern Sources for Language Revival of the Massachusett-Narragansett Language of
Southeastern New England. References for sources may be found in Chapter XII, “Bringing Back our Lost
Language.”

■>

The Aquidneck Indian Council, Inc.

The Aquidneck Indian Council, Inc., in Newport, RI, was formed in 1996 in the
State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations as a 501(c) 3 nonprofit corporation. The
Council was founded, formed, and governed by aboriginal peoples of North America. It
dissolved legally in 2002 due to financial pressures and personal considerations. The
organization still operates as a scholarly research repository, under the designation, “The
Aquidneck Indian Council”. The following photograph shows the founding leaders of the
Council.

xiii

Aquidneck Indian Council Co-founders.

Front: Strong Woman (L), Healing Woman (R);

Rear (author). West Greenwich, RI.

Photo, 1995 or 1996; Steven Baker, Council photographer.

One of the major objectives of the Aquidneck Indian Council, Inc. was working on
aspects of bringing back “the language” 4 . The Council very early on realized and agreed
that no American Indian language annihilated by the harsh lessons of American History
could possibly be regenerated in toto no matter how much IQ from the natural realm
descended on this bloodless ghost. We felt the preternatural and supernatural metaphysical
realms could once again speak, or that one could turn up the volume of the voices always
there.

4 The website http://www.rootsweb.com/~rigenweb/IndianBibliography.html contains a listing of the
Council’s major publications, under authors “Moondancer [Francis J. O’Brien, Jr.],” “Frank Waabu
O’Brien,” and “Strong Woman [Julianne Jennings].” “O’Brien” and “Moondancer” is the same person.
Virtually all of the publications, documents and records produced by the Council have been donated to the
Rhode Island Historical Society, The Research Library, 121 Hope Street Providence RI 02906 Phone:
(401) 273.8107 Fax: (401) 751.7930 [http://www.rihs.org/]. Other repositories holding some of the
Council’s works include the United States Library of Congress [http://catalog.loc.gov/]. University of Rhode
Island, Rhode Island College [http://helin.uri.edu/]. The Rhode Island Public Library System
[http://www.publiclibraries.com/rhodeisland.htm], Dartmouth College, Harvard University, University of
Pittsburgh, University of California, Newport Historical Society, Connecticut Historical Society, Indian and
Colonial Research Center (Mystic, CT), The Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology at Brown University,
and others. All of the material in the present volume will soon be made available online from the Education
Resources Information Center (ERIC), a digital library of education-related resources, sponsored by the
Institute of Education Sciences of the U.S. Department of Education [http://www.eric.ed.gov/].

XIV

A language gives the ability of human beings to do anything within possibility. The
capability to Pray, Sing, Name and Speak forms the multidimensional quartrad of all
audible and inaudible human communication within and between the natural, preternatural
and supernatural realms of Being and Doing. To say it another way — Praying, Singing,
Naming and Speaking are the gifts of the Creator available to men, women and children of
this land. The essays in this volume echo this philosophy.

JL

ir

The Author Frank Waabu (with illustrations)

The author Waabu was born Francis Joseph O’Brien, Jr., on December 7, 1946 in
The City Providence of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in the
neighborhood known as Olneyville Square. His deceased parents, Francis Joseph O’Brien,
Sr. and Lillian Mary O’Brien (nee Fortier), were poor, uneducated, Roman Catholic,
peasants. His mother is known to be Metis, descended from the French-Canadian First
North American peoples 5 . His father was bom in Fall River, Massachusetts, in 1903, it is
said, of French (Metis?) prostitute, who was later adopted by one Mr. O’Brien. Their lives
were completely undistinguished. Waabu’ s parents admitted a lifelong defeat in the eternal
Peasant Wars.

Poverty is like a noose that strangles humility and breeds disrespect for

the Laws of Man and God.

As a young child 6 , Waabu was raised in Rhode Island Catholic and State
orphanages, foster homes and penal detention centers . Waabu suffered from several
childhood disabilities and diseases, including a severe head injury resulting in periodic
epileptic seizures. Until the age of 13 he was reared in Olneyville Square as an “Irish
Roman Catholic,” despite looks to the contrary.

At the age of 13, while under Rhode Island Family Court sentence to the Dr. Patrick

Q

I. O’Rourke Children’s Center (“State Orphanage” ) in Providence, RI, he experienced a
religious-motivated Crime Against Humanity at the hands of the State which profoundly
changed his life forever.

According to my friend Red Wing (Bob. C., former sub chief, Dighton Intertribal Indian Council),
believed to be Hurons, through the marriage of Antoine Fortier and Marie -Magdeleine Cadieu(x), (daug. of
Charles Cadieu(x), Sieur de Courville, and Magdeleine Macard, inhabitants of the Seigniory of Beauport on
21 Nov. 1677).

6 “Abult”, as defined in the authors’ Neologisms....

7 Selected data abstracted from a chronological Record Summary (dated Nov. 14, 2003), provided by Mr.
Richard B. Hillman, Supervisor, State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Rhode Island Department
of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF — the “Welfare Department”).

8 Waabu refers to this heinous institution as the SPT, (“sah-pah-tay”) = Staatliche Psychologische Totenlager
(German for “State Sanctioned Psychological & Spiritual Death Camp”). Waabu, as Inmate Number 8759 at
SPT, gained notoriety as the leader in a Slave Revolt against a notorious brutal and racialist “House Father”
who had a penchant for physical brutality, and referring to us colored people as “niggers” and “Geronimo.”

XV

During his teenage years, Waabu was reared as a Negro in South Providence 9 . At
the age of 17 he was sentenced to jail by The Family Court under a life sentence at The
Rhode Island Training School for Boys as “incorrigible,” “dangerous to the community,”
and lacking “any value system or guilt”.

The United States Air Force accepted Waabu as an E-l Airman in 1964, an
experience which allowed him to experience a transfer function, “decay curve” “growth
curve”.

Firewater and violence ruled Waabu’ s soul. Mattand mesh auntau.

Dr. Francis J. O'Brien, Jr.

1 1 years old;

Photo ca. 1957

Born in Olyneyville Square,

Providence, Rl

Dr. Francis J. O’Brien, Jr.,

6 1/2 years old, in backyard, 145 Magnolia St.,
Providence, Rl. Dressed as Amer. Indian with
Bow & Arrow, feather headdress, mocassins,
photo by Mrs. L. O'Brien

The author as a child in Olneyville Square, Providence, Rhode Island.

Waabu’ s experiences as a Metis peasant matwaii in “abulthood” laid the solid
groundwork for his “interulthood” and adulthood. He desires to do the Will of God as my
mother Peeyauntam and one Father Rene Guertin 10 (St. Aloysius Home, Catholic
orphanage in Greenville, R.I.) showed me.

As for as my life’s calling, I can say it only in the following way, in broken
reconstructed Algonquian:

9 May love be expressed to my late Uncle Mr. Victor Taber of Providence and Uncle Mr. Willie Powell of
Boston, who showed me by example, how to live in a racially charged society as a colored man.
Nxwomonoog.

10 See http://www.ourladvofgoodhelp.org/ParishHistory.htm .

XVI

Waabu netup agweitch manitowese newutche Mastagoitch
wutche nanumiyeu — Montagnciis. Waabu auntau wutche
m ’tab — micheme kah micheme.

Waabu’s brief work, Analects of Moondancer, v. 1 (1996), Aquidneck Indian
Council, summarizes his philosophical autobiography.

Strong Woman with the couple’s
newborn-daughter Wompashawese
(Lily-Rae O'Brien) in cradleboard;
1996

XVII

Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe, Massachusetts State Tribal Recognition
Ceremony, 1997, St. Francis Farm, Rehoboth, Massachusetts.
[ http://www.inphone.com/seahome.html ; http://www. inphone.com/seahome/rene
wal.html l, “Chief Eagle Heart and Blue Dove greet the elders before the
tobacco ceremony.” [Copyright 2003, Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe];
author, 3 ld from left in Indian red ribbon-shirt & sunglasses.

Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe, Massachusetts State Tribal Recognition
Ceremony, 1997, St. Francis Farm, Rehoboth, Massachusetts. The author
dancing with rattle, wearing the Indian red ribbon-shirt. [Copyright 2003,
Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe]

Reciting reconstructed Prayer Keihtanit-oom (O Spirit) in
extinct Narragansett Language. International Day, US
Naval Station, lune 2004. (L) Chief Blue Eagle
(Blackfoot, Abenaki), (R) Author. Courtesy, Naval
Undersea Warfare Center, Newport, RI.

JON 23 2005

Snow blizzard of Jan, 23, 2005, Newport, RI. Author wearing Abenaki
Trading Coat at the Aquidneck Indian Council in Newport [Photo, courtesy
of friend & neighbor, Mr. William Serth, US Naval Station Engineer]

XIX

Outline of Book

The book contains 13 individual chapters, in the following chronological

order:

❖ The Word ‘Squaw’ in
Historical and Modern
Sources

♦♦♦ Spirits and Family
Relations

♦♦♦ Animals & Insects

♦♦♦ Birds & Fowl

♦♦♦ Muhhog: the Human
Body

♦♦♦ Fish and Aquatic
Animals

❖ Corn & Fruits &
Berries & Trees &c

♦♦♦ The Heavens, Weather,
Winds, Time &c

♦♦♦ Algonquian Prayers And
Other Miscellaneous
Algonquian Indian Texts

❖ Prolegomena to Nukkone
Manittowock in that Part of
America Called New-
England

❖ Guide to Historical Spelling
and Sounds in the Extinct
New England American
Indian Languages,
Massachusett-Narragansett

❖ Bringing Back our Lost
Language

❖ At the Powwow

The individual chapters are located in the book by selecting the side-tab
labeled with the chapter number. As such, the tab labeled “CHAPTER IV” contains the
essay on “Birds and Fowl.”

JL

ir

XX

Acknowledgements

- 0 -

The Algonquian Studies Project of the Extinct American Languages of
Southeastern New England was made possible with the generous support of many people,
organizations and institutions. Many research and records facilities throughout the country
and world contributed to the data, information and supporting documentation. I list below
those individuals, organizations and institutions that have helped me in one way or another
to complete this decade-long project. Individual chapters contain additional
acknowledgments, as do the major other publications of the Aquidneck Indian Council.
The author’s free online WWW websites on Indian Place names and Indian Studies
bibliography, http ://www .roots web .com/~rigenweb/IndianPlaceN ames .html , provides

information on those major projects.

The Native Journies project, a congressionally earmarked grant funded by the
National Historical Publications and Records Commission, National Archives and Records
Administration (2001-2002) rhttp://www.archives.gov/l , was strongly supported by
Senators Ben Nighthorse Campbell (CO), Jack Reed (RI) and Lincoln D. Chaffee (RI) of
the United States Senate. Dr. Albert T. Klyberg, former Director of Museum Programs,
Heritage Harbor Museum, created the original source grant for the collaboration between
Heritage Harbor Museum and the Rhode Island Indian Council.

In the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, we must mention the
Office of the Governor of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (and
Governor Donald L. Carcieri), The Rhode Island Office of the Secretary of State, Division
of State Archives and Public Records Administration, The Newport Historical Society, The
Rhode Island Historical Society Library, The Rhode Island Historical Preservation and
Heritage Commission, Heritage Harbor Museum, The Black Heritage Society, The John
Carter Brown Library at Brown University, Middletown Public Library Interlibrary Loan
Program, Maine State Library (Augusta, Maine), the Making Of America Digital Library
( University of Michigan and Cornell University , funded by the Andrew W. Mellon
Foundation), Rhode Island Committee (Council) on the Humanities, Rhode Island
Loundation, Expansion Arts, Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, West Warwick Public
Library, Rhode Island College Adams Library, University of Rhode Island Special
Collections Library, The Rhode Island Department of Education, Mark Patinkin of The
Providence Journal, Newport (RI) Daily News, Newport This Week and many other
regional newspapers and presses, the Town Councils of Aquidneck Island (Portsmouth,
Middletown and Newport) , Dr. David Shonting, Narragansett Indian News, Providence
Public Library, the Rhode Island Indian Council, and The Narragansett Indian Tribal
Nation. In nearby Massachusetts we were assisted by the Boston Public Library and
Harvard University. We thank the Bureau of Indian Affairs (US Department of the
Interior), and all the tribes and Councils of Southern New England. We thank the
Mashantucket Pequot Library and Research Center, and Connecticut Historical Society in
Connecticut. Other academic libraries providing information and records include Princeton
University, University of Pennsylvania and Yale University, The Naval War College and

xxi

Naval Undersea Warfare Center of Newport, RI. The United States Library of Congress
allowed electronic access to numerous American, Canadian and European scholarly
research libraries. We also acknowledge Mr. Roger L. Payne, Executive Secretary, and
Julie Pastore, of the U.S. Geological Survey & U.S. Board on Geographic Names,
Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), and The Library of Virginia.

Finally, the author extends special gratitude to three people. Many thanks are
extended to Dr. Ives Goddard, Senior Linguist of the Smithsonian Institution, and Professor
George Aubin, Assumption College, our most eminent American Algonquian linguists,
whose dedicated and scholarly works of the past two-and-one-half score-years have keep
alive the words and spirits of the American Indian tongues of the Aboriginal Peoples of the
Great State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Professor Emeritus Karl V.
Teeter, Harvard University, teacher and mentor of Drs. Goddard and Aubin, allowed us to
initiate our studies at the Aquidneck Indian Council. Professor Teeter’s mother, the late
Professor Lara Teeter, was the author’s philosophy professor at Southeastern Massachusett
University in the early 1970s. Her teachings, especially in logic and epistemology, were
very helpful in my own intellectual development.

As always, my daughter, Miss Lily Rae-O'Brien (Wompashawese =“Little White
Flower”), is the guiding light in all my earthly works. Our English, French, Irish, African
American and Indian heritage serves this great land of ours. God Bless the United States of
America. May she live forever!

xxrr

American Indian Studies in
the Extinct Languages of
Southeastern New England

The Word “Squaw”
in

Historical and Modem Sources

REVISED

FRANK WAABU O’BRIEN

Aquidneck Indian Council

12 Curry Avenue
Newport, RI 02840-1412

MARCH, 2005

E-mail: Moondancer_Nuwc@hotmail.com
http://www.rootsweb.com/~rigenweb/IndianPlaceNames.html

Aquidneck Indian Council, Newport, RI

Page 1

5/17/2005

The Word “Squaw” in Historical and Modern Sources
REVISED EDITION
Originally published as,

The Word “Squaw” in Historical and Modern Sources :A Position
http://www.indianeduresearch.net/squaw.pdf

Paper

This project was funded [in part] by Expansion Arts, a joint program of the Rhode Island
Foundation Rhode Island and the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts/National
Endowment for the Arts

Copyright © 2005 by Francis J. O'Brien, Jr., 12 Curry Avenue, Newport, RI 02840-1412, USA. All rights
reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, or transmitted, in
any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying.

Aquidneck Indian Council, Newport, RI

Page 2

5/17/2005

This painting by Thomas Cole is an excellent example of sentimentalizing and racialzing. The American
Indian woman is presented as the sexual racial "Other." Naked from the waist up, her sexuality is open to
the viewer's perusal. Furthermore, carefree swinging characterizes her as the metaphoric innocent savage,
childlike in her wonder before civilization's advance.

lhttp://xroads. virginia.edu/~hyper/HNS/Indians/intro2.html1

Aquidneck Indian Council, Newport, RI

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INTRODUCTION

In the following sections we present about two dozen recorded examples describing the use and
meaning of the American Indian word "squaw". The historical sources include the earliest
known recordings from the 17 th century written by White European Colonists in that part of the
“New World” called “New-England”. The translations represent the European's understanding
of the word "squaw" used in different linguistic contexts by the Native American speakers.
These works exemplify different Algonquian (Massachusett-Narragansett) dialects from North
Boston to Plymouth, MA, over to Western RI. A modern reference and guide to 17 th documents
is also included. In the Algonquian translations, the word "sachim (sachem)" means "village
leader" or "Chief". An alternative derivation proposed for the word “squaw” (from the
Iroquoian language Mohawk) is also provided. A recent discovery of the proposed interpretation
and meaning of “squaw” from a 1904 Mohegan-Pequot text adds a new dimension to the debate
of denotation-connotation of this old regional American Indian word.

Aquidneck Indian Council, Newport, RI

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EXAMPLES OF USE OF ALGONQUIAN WORD
"SQUAW" FROM 17 th CENTURY
SOUTHEASTERN NEW ENGLAND

Edward Winslow — Good Newes from New England.... \62A &

<Plymouth Colony region, Plymouth, Massachusetts>

ALGONQUIAN
(MASSACHUSETT)
WITH "SQUAW" (underlined)

ENGLISH

TRANSLATION

Squasachem

the sachem's wife

William Wood — New Englands Prospect ....1634 &

<North Boston shore -region>

New Englands Prospect. A true, lively, and experimentall description of that part of
America, commonly called New England; discovering the state of that Countrie, both as it
stands to our new-come English Planters; and to the old Native Inhabitants. Laying downe
that which may both enrich the knowledge of the mind-travelling Reader, or benefit the
future Voyager. London: Tho. Cotes. [Reprinted New Englands Prospect, Amherst:
University of Massachusetts Press, 1977].

Aquidneck Indian Council, Newport, RI

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A Key into the

LANGUAGE

O F

AMERICA 1

O

An help to the Language ofthe Natives
in chat part of America, called
NErt'.ENG L . 4 N D.

Together, with briefe OkfervMiom ofthe Cu-
ftomes. Manners and Worships, &e ofthe
atorclnd i\a tipfi, iu Peace and Wane,
in Lite and Death

On all which arc added Spirituall Obfervdtjou,
Generali and Particular by the i/fnthtHr, of

cmclc and Ipecnll ulc'uj'on all oer alion> Jto
all the Br.^hfb Inhabitin': thole ;xms »
yet pJeafant and pruh table cj
the view o! all men :

BT ROG I R W : L LIAMS

ot I'ritiLlenu in

LOKDOX,

Printed by Greyer) 'Dexter, 16+3.

The following table contains information from the fifth edition ( 1 936) of A Key into the
Language of America; page numbers, then the Narragansett language word as spelled by Roger
Williams, and in the last column, a modernized spelling/translation (with annotations) of
Narragansett.

PAGE

N°.

ALGONQUIAN

(NARRAGANSETT) WITH "SQUAW"
(underlined)

ENGLISH

TRANSLATION

27

Squaws

a woman (“female”)

27

Squawssuck

women

28

a little girl

105

Squashim

a female (4-legged animal)

120

Squaus auhaqut

a woman's mantle

124

Squauanit

the woman's god ("Spirit of Women")

134

Ka wuche peeteaugon wuckeesitfnnes
pausuck squaw

... and of that rib he made one woman, (a
Christian sermon by R. Williams to
Narragansetts)

141

• Saunks(qua)

• Saunsquuaog

• The Queen , or Sachim's Wife
(includes “squaw sachem”)

• Queens

146

Keegsquaw

a virgin or maiden

146

Segousquaw

a widower

202

Chepasquaw

a dead woman

& Other Sources

<Regional dialects>

Moondancer 3 Strong Woman — Understanding Algonquian Indian Words

(New England ) .... 1 996, 200 1 .

A project funded [in part] by the Rhode Island Committee for the Humanities (National
Endowment for the Humanities) and Aquidneck Indian Council.

Newport, RI: Aquidneck Indian Council, Inc.

PAGE

N°.

ALGONQUIAN (NARRAGANSETT-
MASSACHUSETT)

WITH "SQUAW" (underlined)

ENGLISH

TRANSLATION

12

female elders

29

Nninuoh kah squa

man and woman

46 & 48

Sachem’s wife, woman who rules
("Squaw Sachem")

48

a woman, female, human female

Aquidneck Indian Council, Newport, RI

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54

Ussqua

little (young) woman

106

Nunksqua

young girl (perhaps “teenager”)

ALTERNATIVE IROQUOIAN ORIGIN OF “SQUAW”
FROM 18 th AND 19 th CENTURIES

An alternative derivation of “squaw” has become controversial. Professor Henrietta Mann of
Montana traced the alternative origin of “squaw” to the Iroquoian Indian language, Mohawk.
Professor Mann states that “squaw” is a shortened form of the original Mohawk word
“otsikwaw” which can be translated “female genitalia” or "vagina". It identifies an American
Indian woman by that part of her body alone. Professor Mann asserts that the fur traders of the
1700s and 1800s corrupted “otsikwaw” to “squaw” to denote a woman who provides sexual
satisfaction to White men. Professor Mann postulates that this use of “squaw” emphasized
sexual desires when the term was used. Henrietta Mann is a full-blood Cheyenne enrolled with
the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma. She teaches Native American studies at the
University of Montana. Earlier, she taught at Haskell Indian Nations University. She has a Ph.D.
in American Studies from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, in 1982.

If the thesis of the Iroquoian origin of “squaw” is correct, then it is plain that the term acquired a
connotation of extreme vulgarity. Its use and meaning would have originated from an entirely
different linguistic source than the bona fide Algonquian word “squaw”. That is, “squaw” in the
southeastern New England Algonquian dialects could be translated as a complete word by an
American Indian of the 17 th century to mean “woman, human female”. To a Mohawk Indian,
presumably “squaw” would not have been understood as a Mohawk word. It could only be
comprehended as a bastardized word from the original word “otsikwaw” as used by non-Indians
as a vulgar reference to females of his tribe.

EXAMPLE OF USE OF WORD “SQUAW”
IN 20 th CENTURY

A dictionary, by definition, is a statistical summary of the commonly accepted usage of spelling,
pronunciation, and meaning among a population of speakers of a given language in a given
culture. A dictionary tells us what most people mean when they use a certain word. The
following typical definition of “squaw” comes from the Webster's New World Dictionary, Third
College Edition, 1988, Simon & Schuster, Inc. [4 th printing, with corrections], page 1301 —

Isquaw (skwo) n. [[ Massachusett squa, younger woman]] 1 [Now Rare]
a North American Indian woman or wife: this term is now considered
offensive 2 a woman; esp. one's wife: a mild term of contempt

I - Americanism

Aquidneck Indian Council, Newport, RI

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CONCLUSION

The word "squaw" has undergone significant changes in meaning and usage in the United
States since it was first recorded 376 years ago in the “New World” by White Colonists.
Originally, as used by the Algonquian- speaking Native or First Americans of southeastern New
England, the word "squaw" was understood and documented by Europeans as having primarily a
denotative function — describing the supernatural world of “Woman Spirit,” or describing female
members of the human race in the natural world as being “young,” “old,” “widowed,” “virgin,”
of “ruling status and rank,” “deceased”, or describing female animals 1 .

An alternative proposed etymology of “squaw”, as a shortened version of the word
“otsikwaw” > “vagina” in the Mohawk language, clearly classifies the word as extremely vulgar.

Today, as reported by dictionaries, the American people view "squaw" as an offensive
and contemptuous term. Thus, we believe that the word "squaw" has acquired a pejorative
connotation over the years, regardless of its correct linguistic history. The present-day vulgar,
derogatory, degrading, belittling, demeaning, insulting connotation of the word "squaw" has
been documented by lexical studies, and reported in publicly available dictionaries.

Those to whom the word "squaw" refers (directly or indirectly, historically or
contemporaneously) are most apt to take offense at the word. That is the American Indian. Not
because of the way it might have been used in the 1600s (when none of us were alive), but today
when we do live, and know it is insulting when used by non-Native Americans. Sometimes
people are not even aware they are insulting someone by use of certain language. They must be
educated.

Our opinion is that the vulgar connotations which attach to the word “squaw” today are
derived in part from the racist perceptions and stereotypes of Native American women as
lascivious and wanton creatures of a low moral character, who belong to a noble but savage and
uncivilized race. These stereotypes and prejudices were most likely acquired from the cinematic
and television portrayals of American Indians. Such a set of perceptions is not far from the
notions of “strumpet” or “prostitute”, although “squaw” seems to carry with it the further notion
of a non-monetary obligation in exchange for “sexual favors”. Such perceptions and stereotypes
apparently support the allegations of significant sexual abuse of Native American women,
especially in the 18 th and 19 th centuries, outside of New England, during the popularized years of
“The Indian Wars”.

Thus, for many reasons, we believe strongly that the word "squaw" (or variant spellings)
should be eradicated throughout the United States. The word should be officially expunged
from all references to objects in the animal, plant, and mineral kingdoms; descriptions of natural
phenomena like mountains, hills, valleys, lakes, and the like; names for places of business,
entertainment and education; used as a descriptive reference in any and all printed matter,
residing on any medium, such as maps, street signs or other geographical references; and any and

1 See alternative derivation of “squaw” in J. Prince and F. G. Speck ( 1904), “Glossary of the Mohegan-Pequot
Language,” American Anthropologist, N.S., Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 18-45. The authors claim the “meaning of the stem
[SHQUAAW] was the prepuce” (p. 40). This was related in an e-mail to Dr. Ives Goddard, Senior Linguist,
Smithsonian Institution, and he forwarded a rejoinder; also an e-mail to Prof. Costa was transmitted concerning the
theoretical process of language learning and semantic derivation in a beginner language learner used by R. Williams
and other missionaries, to which a response was never received. Dr. Goddard was skeptical of Prince and Speck's
interpretation, and cited a lack of evidence for the Prince and Speck thesis; however, their unique interpretation must
be added to the list of possible other translations.

Aquidneck Indian Council, Newport, RI

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all references not alluded to above, but for which mention or reference to the word "squaw" is
substantially likely to evoke the generally held understanding of the derogatory meaning of the
word "squaw" as an American-English word. Finally, we believe that standard American-
English and British-English dictionaries should incorporate the alternative etymology of “squaw”
as a corruption of the Mohawk word “otsikwaw”, meaning “female genitalia”.

Aquie kekuttokaunta squaw !

Wunnetu nta

I am Moondancer. I have spoken.

Aquidneck Indian Council, Newport, RI

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5/17/2005

About the author—

Author: Dr. Frank Waabu. Courtesy of the author at The Naval Undersea
Warfare Center, Division Newport (Newport, RI)

Frank Waabu O'Brien (Dr. Francis Joseph O'Brien,
Jr.) is an historical consultant. He has Indian Status
from The Abenaki Nation (Sokoki and St. Francis
Bands). Waabu is the former President, Aquidneck
Indian Council, Inc. He is a member of and has
served as Council Secretary, The Rhode Island Indian
Council, and is currently a Tribal Member of the
Dighton Intertribal Indian Council. Waabu
graduated from Columbia University with a Ph.D.
degree, doing a dissertation on applied linguistics.
Waabu is an elected member of the New York
Academy of Sciences. He was presented the
American Medal of Honor in 2004 by the American
Biographical Institute. In 2005 he accepted the
International Order of Merit (IOM) from the
International Biographical Centre of Cambridge,
England. He is a disabled veteran from The Viet
Nam War Era, and makes his living as a career civil
servant mathematician for The Department of
Defense.

Aquidneck Indian Council, Newport, RI

Page 11

5/17/2005

era- 7 5 1 7

NEW ENGLAND INDIAN FAMILY

Dr. Frank Waabu O'Brien

PEfMSSCM TO RtPWOOUCt AMD
d<SSCU1NATB THIS UATEftkAi. HAS
8ttN CHANTED

j5iKne/i

to THE EDUCATIONAL "SSOLPCtS
MFORkAATION CENTER IWC)

BEST COPY AVAILABLE

2

U S. D€ PAYMENT C4- fcLKJCATlOW
C0tc» of me lap a 1 «* i

EDUCATIONAL RESOtMCES INKWMATlON
, CENTER |tf»C|

W ThiKlBCAAWIMAbAAn/^jrodiKMd u
.•c»v*i '.™rUH. [«%a of Oi'j»p <■"»’
(K*gN>MU>S I

a M*vx cKanoM h«%« r>mn rr+ds to

iiYpfOw* mptoduCUor

■ Po»»Uo<v«wofOO«tor» ftUMaO ki Ti«
tocumort to nocoooAnfy t«pr»*«ni
o r t«-i OEfl' poM«r or paAcy

1

Spirits & Family Relations
ERIC Document N°. ED 471 405
Frank Waabu O’Brien

Page Number in
PDF Document

Now Reads

Correct To

p. 4, 3 rd line from top

Massachausett

Massachusett

p. 4, 2 nd line from bottom of 2 nd paragraph

16 th

17 th

p. 12, item 5, GRAMMAR NOTES under
“ABSENT ATIVE NOUNS”

(2 nd person, plural)

(ist person plural), for exclusive or inclusive

p. 12, GRAMMAR NOTES under
“ABSENTATIVE NOUNS”; add a new item 6
under item 5.

For “our late (deceased) ”, add -uk to noun (ist person

plural) for inclusive

p. 12, GRAMMAR NOTES under PERSONAL
PRONOUNS

My, our = n

My, our = n , for inclusive

p. 12, GRAMMAR NOTES under PERSONAL
PRONOUNS, add rule

our (exclusive) = n
our (exclusive) = k

p. 22, “the sister of him or her”, last column

SA

A

p. 27, 7 th entry

Our fimd, kins,am

Our friend, kinsman

P. 39, entry for “a man (see HUSBAND”), 3 rd
column

genera

general

p. 33, entry “Great Old Woman Sachem”, last
column

rukes

rules

For additional information, see Goddard, Ives and Kathleen J. Bragdon (1988). Native Writings in Massachusett ( Parts 1 & 2). American
Philosophical Society Memoir 185. Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society.

ED 471 405, “Spirits and Family Relations”, 03 Nov. 2004

‘■PlRITl

FAMILY RELATIONS

Massachusett-Narragansett Revival Program

A project for the reconstruction of the extinct American Indian Languages of

Southeastern New England

Dr. Frank Waabu O'Brien
Historical Consultant

Former President, Aquidneck Indian Council, Inc.
12 Curry Avenue
Newport, RI 02840-1412
e-mail: moondancer_nuwc@hotmail.com

Wunaohteaonk

MAY PEACE BE IN YOUR HEARTS

Reprinted and revised from — Strong Woman <8> Moondancer. (1998). A
Massachusett Language Book, Vol. 1 Newport, RI: Aquidneck Indian Council.

This project was funded [in part] by Expansion Arts, a joint program of the Rhode
Island State Council on the Arts and the Rhode Island Foundation
Front cover, used with permission:
newenglandindianfamily.jpg
690 x 914 pixels - 68k

www.rootsweb.com/-mosmdy newenglandindianfamily.jpg

Copyright © 2002 by Francis J. O'Brien, Jr., 12 Curry Avenue, Newport, RI 02840-1412,

USA. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the author. Printed in the United
States of Ameria.

3

—NOTES—

The main text shows translations for about 300 names for Spirits, relations and
kinships taken from the extinct American Indian languages of southeastern New England,
Narragansett and Massachausett. References are given below. A table of contents is also
provided below.

Each section contains tables of three columns. On the left is the term being defined,
as defined in the middle column, and any useful comments on the right side.
“Reconstructed” refers to my own “guess” as to meaning, etc. The abbreviation Narr. refers
to the Narragansett language as recorded by Roger Williams (1643). The citation “Mayhew”
refers to his unique letter of 1722 — probably the only written description of the
language given by a fluent speaker. We use the special digraph (infinity symbol) oo to
refer to the sound oo as in “food”; “oo” or oo probably refers to the same sound. “Native
Spelling” this means we quote old, original writings of a Native speaker (collected in
Goddard & Bragdon, 1988). These native writings have given us names not previously
recorded or understood by 16 th century missionaries and grammarians such as John Eliot
(‘The Apostle to the Indians”).

The words in these languages for relations and relationships are very complex, not
well documented and not well understood. For example, “sister” may refer to many
relations: a blood-related sister, a half sister, step sister, foster sister (through adoption),
companions of same wigwam, longhouse or clan, or other relationships. Also “my sister” is
said differently if the speaker is a male or female. This brief treatise has some question
marks since we are not sure at this time.

Pronunciation of words is not attempted owing to the scanty knowledge of this
language. For technical guidelines, see Goddard & Bragdon (1988). Strong ® Woman
Moondancer (1998b) provide a long guide to interpretation of vowel sounds and consonant-
voiwel clusters.

4

REFERENCES

Aubin, George (1972). A Historical Phonology of Narragansett. Providence, RI: Brown
University. (Ph.D. Dissertation).

Bragdon, Kathleen J. (1996). Native People of Southern New England, 1500-1650.
Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press.

Cotton, Josiah (1707, 1830). "Vocabulary of the Massachusetts (Natick) Indian
Language." Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Historical Society Collection, Serial 3, Vol.
11 .

Eliot, John (1663). The Holy Bible: Containing the Old Testament and New Translated
into the Indian Language by John Eliot. Cambridge, MA: Samuel Green and
Marmaduke Johnson, (second edition, 1685.)

Eliot, John (1666). The Indian Grammar Begun; or, an Essay to Bring The Indian
Language into Rules for the Help of Such as Desire to Learn the Same for the Furtherance of
the Gospel Among Them. Cambridge, MA: Marmaduke Johnson.

Goddard, Ives and Kathleen J. Bragdon (1988). Native Writings in Massachusett ( Parts
1 & 2). Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society.

Iron Thunderhorse (2000). A Complete Language Guide To The Wampano/Quinnipiac R-
Dialect Of Southwestern New England. ACLI Series # 3. Milltown, IN: ACQTC/ACLI.

Mayhew, Experience (1722, 1855). "Letter of Exp. Mayhew, 1722, on the Indian
Language". New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. 39, pp. 10-17.

Moondancer ® Strong Woman. (1996, 2001). Understanding Algonquian Indian Words
(New England). Newport, RI: Aquidneck Indian Council.

Moondancer ® Strong Woman (2000). Indian Grammar Dictionary for N-Dialect.
Newport, RI: Aquidneck Indian Council.

Moondancer ® Strong Woman (2001). Introduction to the Narragansett Langauge.
Newport, RI: Aquidneck Indian Council.

Prince, J. Dyneley and Frank G. Speck (1904). "Glossary of the Mohegan-Pequot
Language". American Anthropologist, N.S., Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 18-45

Strong Woman ® Moondancer. (1998a). A Massachusett Language Book, Vol. 1
Newport, RI: Aquidneck Indian Council.

Strong Woman <8> Moondancer (1998b). Bringing Back Our Lost Language.

American Indian Culture and Research Journal. 22, no. 3, (1998): 215

Trumbull, James H. (1903). Natick Dictionary. Washington, DC: Bureau of American
Ethnology.

Williams, Roger (1643). A Key into the Language of America:, or, an Help to the
Language of the Natives in that Part of America called New-England. Together, with Briefe
Observations of the Customes, Manners and Worships, etc. of the Aforesaid Natives, in
Peace and Wane, in Life and Death. On all which are added Spirituall Observations,
General and Particular by the Author of chief e and Special use (upon all occasions) to all the
English Inhabiting those parts ; yet pleasant and profitable to the view of all men. London:
Gregory Dexter. [Reprinted, Providence: Narragansett Club, 1866, J. H. Trumbull
[Ed.] & Fifth Edition (reprinted Applewood Books, nd.)].

6

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SPIRITS 3

Reconstructed Words 5

MOTHER 6

FATHER 8

HUSBAND 9

WIFE 10

SON 11

DAUGHTER i 12

BROTHER 13

SISTER 15

BOY 17

GIRL 17

GRANDMOTHER 17

GRANDFATHER 18

ELDERS. ' 18

SON-IN-LAW 18

DAUGHTER-IN-LAW 18

AUNT 19

UNCLE 19

7

COUSIN OR RELATIVE 20

FRIEND (OR KINSMAN/KINSWOMAN) 21

INFANT 22

CHILD 22

MAN, WARRIOR 24

Crossing over 26

WOMAN 27

PEOPLE & FAMILY & TRIBE 28

Some common tribal names 29

o

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 30

Page 2

a

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SPIRITS

First they branch their Cod-head into many branches ... First, many Cods: they
have given me Names of 37 which I have, all which in their solemne worships
invoke...

— Roger Wiliams, A Key into the Language of America, 1643, page 121
(most names are lost)

<>

Great Spirit

•KauHntowit (Narr.)

• Keihtanit

• Keihtan

" Kautantowwit the great South-
West, to whose House all souls goe,
and from whom came the Corne,
Beanes, as they say". (Roger
Williams, 1643). KeihHnit
wunniyeu = "The Grerat Spirit
smiles"

Spirit

Manitoo

Spirit in general.

wunniyeu manit = "God is happy".
Manit anawat = "God commands".
Mannitoo oo = "God exists". ("The
first two syllabils stand for God the
Latter asserhts his existence".

May hew, 1722)

Spirits (plural)

•Manittoog

•Manitt6wock (Narr.)

wutche cummanitt6wock manadog
("your many Gods", (Roger
Williams, 1643)

Sun Spirit

Keesuckquand

God of Day

kesukanit

Moon Spirit

Nanepaushat

West Spirit

Chekesuwand

East Spirit

Wompan&nd

North Spirit

W unnanam6anit

South Spirit

Sowwan&nd

House (wetu) Spirit

Wetu6manit

Woman's Spirit

Squ&uanit

Children's Spirit

Muckq uachuckq uand

Sea Spirit

Paump&gussit

pum, pummoh = "the sea (ocean)"

Good Spirit (?)

Tisquantum (squantum)

See Wunnand

The Healing Spirit
The Spirit of Death

QSSHHHHHHi

The Spirit of Death, night, northeast
wind, the dark and the underworld.

Page 3

9

8/26/02

Fire Spirit

Yot&anit

The Spirit of the Creator
The Spirit of Goodness

The Spirit of Evil

The Spirit of Mercy

Evil Spirit

My Spirit

Nashauanit

• woonand

• wunnand

• woonanit

• mattand

• mattanit
Nisquanem
Matche Manitoo
nammanittoom

To the English Hobbomock meant

"the Devil", "Evil Spirit"

"When I argued with them about
their Fire-God [Yot&anit]: can it, say
they, be but this fire must be a God,
or Divine power, that out of a stone
will arise in a Sparke, and when a
poore naked Indian is ready to
starve with cold in the House, and
especially in the Woods, often saves
his life, doth dresse all our Food for
us, and if he be angry will burne
the House about us, yea if a spark
fall into the drie wood, burnes up
the Country ? (though this burning
of the Wood to them they count a
Benefit, both for destroying of
vermin, and keeping down the
Weeds and thickets)". (Roger
Williams, 1643)

wunni = "good"

matta = "bad, evil"

pag ?o

8/26/02

CONJECTURED
Reconstructed Words

MOTHER 1

my mother

• n6kas

• nookas

• n6kace (Narr.)

• nftchwhaw (Narr.)

literally, "I come from her". The
different spellings show different
ways it was said in different places
("dialect" difference).

my late (deceased)
mother

ndkasi

reconstructed

your mother (singular)

• k6kas

• kookas

different spellings show different
ways it was said in different places
("dialect" difference)

the mother of him or her

6kasoh

Obviative form .

her mother ?

• wutchehwau

• witchwhaw (Narr.)

his late (deceased) mother

oohkassuk

Native spelling

our mother

nokasun

reconstructed

‘GRAMMAR NOTES

❖ ABSENTAT1VE NOUNS

This concept refers to rules for nouns of “absent” or deceased persons:

1 . For “my late (deceased) ”, add -i to the noun (ist person); e.g. ndkasi adds -i to ndkas (“my

mother”)

2. Same rule as above for “your late (deceased) ”, add -i to noun (2 nd person)

3. For “his/her late (deceased) ”, add -uk (or) -oh (obviative) to noun (3 rd person)

4. Same rule as #3 for “your late (deceased) ”, add -uk (or) -oh to noun (2nd person, plural)

5. For “our late (deceased) ”, add -on (or) -an to noun (2 nd person, plural)

❖ OBVIATION

Relations ending in -oh, -ah, -uh are “Obviative case” nouns and mean “the of’ (e.g.,

6kasoh= “the mother of him or her”); it doesn’t translate “his/her mother". Verbs also follow
obviation rules. See Goddard and Bragdon, 1988 or Moondancer, Strong Woman, 2000

❖ PERSONAL FRONOUNS

The rules for forming “my ”, “your_ His/her ”, etc. are:

My, our = n

Your = k

His/her, their = w (or) oo (or) oo

To pluralize a relation. aeJ -og (and sometimes “reduced vowels” or “glides” are required before inserting
-°g)

See Goddard & Bragdon (1988) for more information.

Using the above three sets of rules, one can reconstruct certain kinship relations not given in the available
sources of information. We have occasionally suggested these reconstructed forms.

Page 6

12

8/26/02

mother

6kas

a mother

• 6kasu

all mothers, motherhood

6kasinneunk

any mother, a mother

• wutokasin

• wuttookasin

"giver of life on earth". The word
ohke meaning "earth, homeland.
Mother Earth" comes from the root
for "mother".

I nffl 8 iT3 4 iTTTi I

The different spellings show
different ways it was said in
different places ("dialect"
difference)

Page 7

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8/26/02

FATHER

my father

• noosh

• ndsh (Narr.)

• wutch negone nooshik = "I have
come from my forefathers"

• nookoosh = "1 have a father"
(Mayhew, 1722)

my late (deceased) father

nooshi

nooksha = "My father that was (but
now is not)", Mayhew, 1722

your father (singular)

koosh

cuttdso = "Have you a father?"
(Narr.)

your late (deceased) father

kooshi

your father (plural)

kooshoo

Biblical-God is Father to all

his father

mm

Roger Williams (1643) translates osh
as "a father"

the father of him or her

ooshoh

Obviative case

our father (plural)

nooshun

appears in Lords Prayer

nooshunnanog

Native spelling

| our late (deceased) father

nooshinnon

Native spelling ■-

[BiflBBI

kooshinnan

Native spelling (author's
translation)

your late (deceased) fathers
(plural)

kooshinnanuk

Native spelling (author's
translation)

your forefathers (plural)

|

negone nooshunnonuk

their father

oohshoow&ok

Mayhew

all fathers, fatherhood

wutooshinneunk

he who is a father

wutooshimau

Page 8

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8 / 26/02

HUSBAND

"I am a married man"

nummittu m wussissu

• npak6tam = "I am divorcing (am
divorced)", Narr.

• sanomp (or) sunnup = "common
(Married ?) man" (see MAN, below)

my husband

nasuk

obviously a woman speaking

kasuk

your husbands (plural)

kahsukowoog

refers to husbands of women; does
not mean women with many
husbands

her husband

wasukeh

wussentam = "he marries"

a husband

• wasukkion

The different spellings show

• wasekkien

different ways it was said in

• weisick (Narr.)

different places ("dialect"
difference)

a widower

see "a widow" under WIFE

adulterer

mammaGsa (Narr.)

• "He/ she is an adulterer" (Narr.)

• Nummamm6qwun ew6 ' "He/she has
wronged my bed (adultery)", Narr.

• Pall6 nuchisquauaw = "He/she has
committed adultery" (Narr.)

"Polygamy" 2

nquitt6caw (Narr.)

I have one wife

neesbcaw (")

I have 2 wives

sshbcawaw (")

I have 3 wives

ybcawaw (")

I have 4 wives

Meaning: the condition or practice of having more than one spouse at one time. Also called plural marriage.

15

Page 9

8/26/02

WIFE

"I am a married woman"

noowetauattam

my wife

• nummittamwus

obviously a man speaking.

• nowe£wo (Narr.)

• nulldgana (Narr.)

waumaQsu= "She is loving"

my wives ?

nummittamwussuog ?

not sure of

your wife (singular)

• kummittamwus

• cummittamus (Narr.)

• cowe6wo (Narr.)

your wives (plural)

kummittamwussog

some men had more that one wife,
but the word seems to mean "the
wives of all you men"

the wife of him

ummittamwussoh

Obviative form, nequt ookauau = "he
has one wife"

a wife

• mittamwus (or)

ummittamwussu (or)

mittumwussis

ummittamwussuissu = "he takes a

• we6wo (Narr.)

• wulldgana (Narr.)

wife"; "he takes as a wife"

any wife

u mmittamwussin

a widow

sekousq

"woman left behind"

widows (plural)

sekousquaog

Pregnant woman

neechaw (Narr.)

She is pregant.

Paugc6tche nechadwaw = "She is
already delivered".
kitummSyi mes nechaw = "She has
just now delivered"

Page 10

16

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BROTHER

(very complicated!)

my brother (by birth)
male speaking

neemat

used only bv a man or male (a male
says this of his brother)

my brother (by birth)
female speaking

neetompas

used only bv a woman or female (a
female says this of her brother)

my brothers (by birth)

(plural)

male speaking

neematog

used only bv a man or male (a male
says this of his brothers ). Word
used also by Eliot to mean
"brethren"

my brothers (by birth)
(plural)

female speaking

neetompasog

used only bv a woman or female (a
female says this of her brothers)

my older brother

nunnohtdnukqus

your brother (by birth)

(singular)

male speaking

keemat

a male is speaking

about "your brother" (by birth, but

used also as

"brethren" by Eliot)

your brother ( by birth)

(singular)

female speaking

keetompas

a female is speaking about "your
brother"

(by birth)

your brothers ( by birth)

(plural)

male speaking

keematog

a male is speaking about "your
brothers" (by
birth , but used as
"brethren" by Eliot)

your brothers ( by birth)
(plural)

female speaking

keetompasog

a female is speaking about "your
brothers"

(by birth)

your brothers (talking to
more than one person about
"your brothers")

kemattoowdog

"your brethren" in Eliot

your older brother?

kenohtonukqus

not sure of

his or her brother

weetompas

used by either sex for either sex, and
may refer to a non-blood relation or
of same wetu, Ionghouse or clan

Page 1 3

19

8/26/02

we are brothers

they are brothers

the brother of him by birth
or born in same household

the brother of her by birth
or born in same household
male speaking

weematog

weematfttuog = "they are brothers"

nomattimen

reconstructed

weematoh

weet&htuoh

the younger brother of him wessummussoh
or her

the older brother of her? wunnoht6nukqusoh

his/her oldest brother • mohtom£gitche

• mohtom£git

a brother, any ones brother • wematin

• oowemattin

all brothers, brotherhood weemattinneunk

Obviative form.

Obviative form. A male is speaking
about "her brother"; used for one of
same biological family or of same
wetu, longhouse or clan

Obviative form. Male or female
speakin

Obviative form.

The different spellings show
different ways it was said in
different places ("dialect"
difference)

The different spellings show
different ways it was said in
different places ("dialect"
difference)

SISTER

(very complicated!)

or mother's daughter
male speakin

my sister

father's daughter ?

i i •

n

female speakin

my sisters (by birth)
father or mother's
daughters
male speakin

your sisters (by birth),
(plural)

father or mother's
daughters
male soeakin

your sisters (by birth or
not) (plural)
father's daughters ?
female speaking

your sisters (plural)
father's daughters ?
male soeakin

or her

neetompas

a male is speaking about "my
sister"

nummissus

a male is speaking about "my sister"

netukkusq

a female is speaking about "my
sister". Used for a half sister or one
of same wetu, longhouse or clan

neetompasog

a male is speaking about
"my sisters"

kummissis

a male is speaking about
"your sister"

keetompas

a male is speaking about "your
sisters"

ketukkusqquog ?

a female is speaking about "your
sisters". Used for half sisters or one
of same wetu, longhouse or clan

kummissisog

a male is speaking about
"your sisters"

wessummussoh

Obviative form. Male or female
speaking of his or her sister

21

8/26/02

his or her sister (by birth or
not)

father or mother's
daughter

weetompassu (or)
weetompas

his or her sister
father's daughter

ummiss6s

the sister of him or her

ummiss6soh

the sister of him

weetahtuoh

his/her oldest sister

• mohtom£gitche

• mohtom£git

the sister of him or her

weetuksquoh

our sister

ummissiesin

a sister, half sister, same
family or household

weetahtu

a sister, any sister

• ummissiesin

• neetat (or) wetompasin

used by either sex for either sex, and
may refer to a non-blood relation or
of same wetu, longhouse or clan

Obviative form. SA male speaking
of "his sister" or "kinswoman"

The different spellings show
different ways it was said in
different places ("dialect"
difference)

Obviative form. May refer to ones'
non blood sister in the same wetu,
longhouse or clan

may refer to ones' non blood sister
in the same wetu, longhouse or clan

female speakin

BOY

a son, a male child

mukkatchouks

In Narragansett,

nummuckqu^chucks = "my son",
"my boy"

My pupil or ward = nulldquaso
(Narr.) (peewauqun= "Look well to
him")

l

mukkatchouksog

1

nunkomp

young men (youths,
teenagers) (plural)

nunkompaog

nunkompaes

very young men, boys
(Plural)

nunkompaesog

orphan (See CHILD)

GIRL

girl , teenager

nunksqua

nunksquaog

young women

little girl

"little young woman"

orphan (See CHILD)

GRANDMOTHER

my grandmother, ;•

mother's mother

nokummus

R, } » J 4 is % » S f 1 1 i t!iu J S t'e'ir? ■

kokummus

| his/her grandmother

okummus

wuttookummlssin

■BHHI

| grandmothers

okummusog

Page 17

23

8/26/02

GRANDFATHER

my grandfather,
father's father

nummissoomis

Native spelling

my late (deceased)
grandfather

numissoomissi

Native spelling

your grandfather
(singular)

kummissoomis

reconstructed

his/her grandfather

ummissoomis

Native spelling

the grandfather of
him/her

ummissoomissoh

Obviative form. Native spelling

his/her grandfathers

a grandfather, any
grandfather (father's
father?)

wutt °° tkklnneasm

addressing one respectfully as
"grandfather"

ELDERS

male elder

kehchis

"he is old'

male elders (plural)

kehchisog

kehchisog wa^ntamwog = "the old
are wise"

female elder

kehchissqua

"she is old'

kehchissquaog

SON-IN-LAW

my son-in-law

"he is my son-in-law"

a son-in-law

was6nnumkqutche

wuss6num

"he is the son-in-law"

DAUGHTER-IN-LAW

my daughter-in-law

nushin

reconstructed

(son's wife)

Page 18 24

8/26/02

kushin

daughter-in-law of
him/her

wushimoh

Obviative form.

wushimin

AUNT

my aunt

nokummes

"little grandmother" (because of
-es, diminutive)?

your aunt (singular)

kokummes

his/her aunt

okummes

reconstructed

aunt, in general

wuttookkummissin

UNCLE

| my uncle

noosusses

"my uncle by mother's side"

koosusses

his/her uncle

• wussisses

• wussusses

The different spellings show
different ways it was said in
different places ("dialect"
difference)

wife of his uncle

ummittamwussoh ooshesoh

Obviative form. Two words here

an uncle, in general

aoshesin

Page 19

25

8 / 26/02

COUSIN or RELATIVE

a cousin (by blood,
marriage?), my kinsman,
my kinswoman

adtonkqs

blood cousins are not unheard of

my female cousin

nutdnkqs

also used for "kinswoman"

my female cousins
(plural)

nutonkqsog

also used for "kinswomen"

nettahueog

Native spelling

nuttauwam

nuttauwamoog

kadtonkqs

also used for "kinswoman"

mmm

kadtonkqsog

also used for "kinswomen"

wadtunkqusoh

Obviative form.

his cousin, a cousin

watdncks (Narr.)

my kinsman,
kinswoman, my
relatives, in general

nuttauwatueonk

"my people"

general respectful
greeting of ones own
people or allies (males)

nuttonkqsog

"sirs"

they are cousins

Page 20

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8/26/02

FRIEND (OR KINSMAN/KINSWOMAN)

my friend, my kinsman

neetomp

also used as a friendly "brother",
"my brother". In Narragansett we
say neetop

hsbshhhhhi

neetompaog

fSSBKKSKKM

keetomp

reconstructed

keetompaog

reconstructed

| his/ her friend, kin

weetomp

magESSmsSM

weetompaog

our firnd, kins,am

neetompun

reconstructed

our friends (plural)

Native spelling

companion of same wetu,
longhouse, clem (singular)

wutuomp

a friend, kinsman, in
general (singular)

weetompain

friends, comrades

my companions or
associates in war

nowepinnachick (Narr.)

Nowepinn&timin = "we join
together in war".

Nowechusettfmmin = "we are
confederates".

WechussittOock = "they join
together in war".

Nechus£ ewo = "this is my
associate,

companion in war".

"her kinsman, kinswoman, relative"
7

ouwatuonk

Guardian

Guardians

wauchaumchick (Narr.)

They who watch over, protect us"

Page 2 1

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8 / 26/02

INFANT

infant

peisses

" he, she is very small, an infant"
Nondnese, non6nnis (Narr) = "a
sucking child", noonsu = "He/ she is
a sucking child (suckling)".

baby, newborn

• "papoose"

• "he, she is extremely small"?

your infant sister

peississit keetompas

two words here

peississit keemat

two words here

when he, she is small

peississit

infants, in general

"those who are small, infants"

CHILD

my child

nunnechan ?

"my growing one"

my children

nunnech&nog

your child (singular)

kenechan

kenechanog

his/her child

wunneechan

"are born, come from him"

his/her children (plural)

wunneechauog

"are bom, come from him"

nunnechononog

their children (plural)

wunnechannooah

Native spelling

a little child (boy)

mukki

"bare bottom"— no clothes for a boy
till about 10 years old.

a very little child

mukkies

seems to be for boys only ?

little children

• mukkiog

• neechanog

• more for boys

• boy or girl

noonuk

a suckling child

noonuk^e mukkies

children suckled many years to keep
down population (nursing mothers
can't get pregnant)

terms of endearment

• papeissesu

• papeissisit

• pap£asek

"little thing"

children, offspring
without regard to sex, age
(plural)

neechanog

"they are born"

| my offspring j nutontseonk

"my descendants"

Page 22 8/26/02

28

MAN, WARRIOR

a tribesman

enin (or) nnin

literally "he is like us, one of us";
ninnu = "he is a tribesman, one of
us"

a male

nompaas

a man

(See HUSBAND)

sanomp, sunnup

not certain of meaning,
"man in genera (married)"?

a man

skeetomp

wosketomp

skeetomp is common Algonquian
term.

wosketomp =used once for young
brave (warrior)

warrior, war captain

keenomp

used once for warrior (war captain),
"valiant"

warrior, high war captain

• mugwomp

• muckquomp (Narr.)

used once for warrior (war captain),
"great man", probably
higher than keenomp

war leaders (in battle)

negonshachick (Narr.)

head Pinese Warrior
("War Chief")

missinnege

head Pinese Warrior of Wampanoag
(Annawan was missinnege in King
Philip's War)

men (plural)

wosketompaog

used once for young braves
(warriors)

keenompaog

used once for warriors (war
captains), "valiant

warriors, high war
captains (plural)

mugwompoag

used once for warriors (war
captains), "great men", probably
higher than keenompaog

a young man

wuskenin

wuske = "young"

an unmarried man

mat mittumwusslssiuenin

"mat" = not

middle aged man

"getting, becoming old"

middle aged men (Plural)

kutchfnnuwock (Narr.)

a very large man in size

a great man, "noble",
councilor

ahtuskou (Narr.)

A councilman. Plural =
atauskowaflg

my great men, important
leaders, "nobles"

nuttahtoskauwomog

Native spelling

a warrior, soldier, fighter
(on your side)

ayeuteanin

ayeuhte^u = "he makes war, fights"

warriors, soldiers,
fighters (on your side)
(plural)

aiyeuehteanuog

Page 24

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8/26/02

Ei I m ^

matwabog (Narr.)

"enemies".

mecautea = "an enemy fighter"

elite warrior, councilor,
protector of The
Massasoit of Wampanoag

pneise (or) pinese

specially trained elite warrior; not
certain of word meaning, but it may
be something like "little spirit that
moves all about". One Pinese
Warrior could chase away 100 men.
Plural = pniesesok

a man of different tribe,
nation, race

missinnin

used for captives, tribes paying
tribute, "a captive"

men of different tribe,
nation, race (plural)

missinninnuog

used for captives, tribes paying
tribute, "captives"

sachim (village leader)

sachem (or) sontim (or)
sachim (Narr.)

"the strong one". Europeans used
"Sagamore" to mean a lesser leader
(probably corrupted from Delaware
word, sakimaii = "He is the
sachem").

sachims

sachimatiog (Narr.)

dead sachim

chepasbtam (Narr.)

priest, physician,
Holyman

pauwau, powwSw (Narr.)

powwaw nippbtea = "The priest is
curing him"

healer, "conjurer"

manetu

"One w ho chants, sings, drums, to
drive away evil spirits of the sick &
dying."

-etu implies a process of change
("cure, getting better)"

chief priest

kehtpowwau

prophet, wiseman, priest,
philospher

taupaw (Narr.)

plural is taupowauog

overseer of worship '<

nanouw£tea (Narr.)

Burial overseer = mockutt^suit 3

king (Great Sachim)

ketassoot

kingdom = ketassootamooonk

a prince

puppasootam

princes = puppascotammwog

ruler, governor

nanawunnuaen

from nanawunnum = "He rules
over (primarily for safety)".
Canotchet was called nanawtunu =
"He is ruler"

3 See below quote from Roger Williams on Narragansett language of death, dying; notice distinction between
physical death, and spiritual aspects.

Page 25

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8/26/02

Grand Sachem of

Massasoit

a title, "great leader" or "great

Wampanoag

commander". The Massasoit was

the Grand Sachem of all the
Wampanoag people. In historic
times the Massasoits were Ousa
Mequin ("Yellow Feather);
Wamsutta ("he has a kind heart");
and Pometacomet (" of the
Masssoit's house"), also known as

King Philip.

Quotes from Introduction to the Narragansett Langauge, 2002
Crossing over

As pummissiiT

He is not yet departed

Neene

He is drawing on (now he is about to
cross over)

Pausawut kitonckquewa

He cannot live long

Chachewunnea

He is near death

Nipwimaw

He has crossed over

Kitonckquei '

He is dead 3

Katitonckqueban 0

They are dead and gone

Sequttoi '

He, she is in Black (wears black
face-soot for mourning)

Sequt

Black face-soot for mourning

Michemeshawi

He, she is gone forever

Mat wdnek kunnawmone

You shall never see him, her again

4 Literally, “He journeys yet”, Passive Voice.

5 Physical death.

6 Passive Voice.

7 A condition maintained for weeks, month, up to a year (if a great person, like Sachim).

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8/26/02

WOMAN

a woman

• squa (or) squaw

• mittamwossis

• female in general

• married

women

• females in general

• married

a young woman

• wuskittamwus

• wusskennin

• married?

• in general

marriageable virgin

a virgin

• penomp

• keegsquaw (Narr.)

• "stranger to men"

• virgin or maiden

a prostitute

nanwunnoodsquaen

"common woman"

an old woman

w6nise (Narr.)

"a little bent over"

little woman

ussqua

nurse

noosawwaw (Narr.)

female tribal leader,
"Squaw Sachem"

sonksq (or) suncksqua (or)
sonkusq (or) sunkisq

"woman who rules" of which we
can note Wettamoe of the Pocassets
and Awashonks of the Sakonetts.

Great Old Woman
Sachem

kechissunkisq

"Great-she rukes-old-women"

Medicine Woman

pauwausq

counterpart of male powwau. Plural
= pauwausquaog

Chief, Great Medicine
Woman

kehtpauwausq

plural adds -uaog

Page 27

8/26/02

PEOPLE & FAMILY & TRIBE

• People of our Tribe 8

• Indian People not of our
tribe 9

• Indians in general

• Nnlnnuock 10

• Ninnimissinnhwock 11

• EniskeetompaQwog 12

General terms from Roger Williams
(1643)

my people

nuttauwaog

Native spelling.

All my people, my relations = wame
nuttauwaog

people of his

ummissinumoh

Obviative form. Native spelling

our common people

nummussannumm unnonnog

Native spelling

my family

nutteash i nninneonk

your family

kutteashinnunneonk

a family

teashiyeuonk (or)
chasiyeuonk

blood relations

a family or band (?) or clan
(?)

weechinnineummoncheg

"They go with him"

my descendants, my
posterity

(used on Martha's Vineyard
& Nantucket)

nuppometuonk

Native spelling

People of First Light

Wampanoag

from word nrdnnuog, contracted to -
noag. In modem Native American
terms, Wampanoag is W6pan&ak

a tribe (or band)

chippissuog

"they are separate"

a tribe (or band) ,
collectively

chippan°oonk

abstract noun form

a nation

wutohtimion

"those that live on this land"

nations

wutohtimoneog

ongtag magke wuttohmoneog =
"other great nations"

8 “Those like us”; "We are all alike", [nnin = "people, human beings of our tribe"].

9 “Those not like us”.

10 Original text reads Ninnuocj; . The ending -ock (or -ag or -uck with a connective "glide" pronounced as "y" or
"w") makes words plural (more than one) for the type of noun referred to as "animate" (creatures that are alive and
move) plus others we can't understand the rule for at this time. The ending -ash is the plural for "inanimate nouns"

11 Missin = "other nnin (captive people, inferior men)". Double consonants in the middle of a word (like nn in
Nnfnnuock, or hh, gg, ss, in other words, etc.) are pronounced like one letter — -just as we do in English; for example
the word "supper" is said with one "p" sound.

12 Skeetomp (" SK.EE- dahb") =”a man", a common Aigonquian word used among surviving languages like Maliseet.
Some believe the word, Eniskeelompauwog, means "original surface-dwelling people" (Iron Thunderhorse, 2000).
Wosketomp is a similar word suggesting a "young warrior) ( woskehteau = "harms or destroys" with perhaps root
-wask- = "young." The key root is -omp = "free, unbound".

Page 28

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8/26/02

Some common tribal names, from Roger Williams,^ Key..., 1643

Nanhigganeuck‘ J

Narragansetts I

Massachuseuck

Massachusett Indians

Cawasumseuck

Cawsumsett Neck Indians 1 *'

Cowweseuck

Cowweset Indians

Quintikoock 15 . ...

Indians of the long river
(Connecticut)

Qunnipieuck

Quinnipiac Indians

Pequtoog 16

Pequot Indians

Muhhekaneuck 1 ;

Mohegans

'■’The plural ending - euck ("ee-yuhck") is translated (incorrectly) "the people of'. The endings "-ock, -og" for
simple pluralizaton have the same meaning as -euck. So, Nanhigganeuck ("Nah-hih-gah-NEE-yuhck") has been
translated, "The People Of The Small Point Of Land". Massachuseuck is translated "People of the Great Hills".
Cawasumseuck means "People of the Sharp Rock". Cowweseuck means "People Of the Small Pine Place".
Qunnipiiuck = "People of the long-water place" (quinni-auke-pe) or "People of the place where the route changes".
Pequtdog is translated usually "Destroyers". Muhhekaneuck means either "The Wolf People" or, in Prince & Speck,
1 903, "People of the tide river".

This analysis of a word into its elementary units of root/stems & other elements is guided by the principal of
polysynlhesis (see Mayhews’ unique letter of 1 722 — probably the only written description of the language given by
a fluent speaker). English-language words can be understood in a similar manner; e.g., the words <telescope,
telephone, television, telegraph, telegram, telepathy, telemetry> all have in common the Greek root tele (far off, at a
distance) which goes into these words. The other roots (-scope, -phone &c) all have their individual meanings
which when combined with other roots give us new words such as <microscope, periscope, Dictaphone,
microphone, & c). Our manner of teaching Algonquian is quite similar to the word-analysis we just presented for
English-language words.

14 Probably Pokanoket/ Wampanoag of Sowams who occupied lands from Sowansett River to Pawtucket River
within Cawsumsett Neck in Bristol & Warren, RI

15 The recent book by Iron Thunderhorse is a good reference for Indian place names in southwestern New England.

16 These are ancestors of the Modern Pequots, including groups known as Mashantucket, Paucatuck, Eastern Pequot
Indians, inter alia, in and around Ledyard, Conneticut.

17 Adopted and modified from an editorial footnote in A Key into the Language of America. Providence, RI:
Narragansett Club, 1866 Edition, J. R. Trumbull, Editor. The Trumbull edition has many useful comments from
historical sources. We are indebted to Dr. Trumbull for some historical editorial remarks used in the present book.

Page 29 2 ^

8/26/02

About the author-

IL . * 3 Vi.. JL

Author ; Dr. Frank Waabu. Courtesy of the author at The Naval
Undersea Warfare Center, Division Newport (Newport, RI)

Frank Waabu O’Brien (Dr. Francis Joseph O’Brien,
Jr.) is an historical consultant. He has Indian Status
from The Abenaki Nation (Sokoki and St. Francis
Bands). Waabu is the former President, Aquidneck
Indian Council, Inc. He has served as Council
Secretary, The Rhode Island Indian Council, and is
currently a Tribal Member of the Dighton Intertribal
Indian Council. He graduated from Columbia
University with a Ph.D. degree, doing a dissertation on

applied linguistics. Waabu is an elected member of
the New York Academy of Sciences. He is listed in
2000 Outstanding Scientists of the 20th Century,
and The International Biographical Dictionary. He
is a disabled veteran from The Viet Nam War Era.
Waabu makes his living as a career civil servant
mathematician for The Department of Defense.

36 BEST COPY AVAILABLE

Page 30

8/26/02

About the author —

Author . Dr. /■'rank Waabu. Courtesy of the author at The Nat al Undersea
Warfare Center, Division Newport (Newport, RI)

Frank Waabu O'Brien (Dr. Francis Joseph O'Brien, Jr.) is an historical consultant. He
has Indian Status from The Abenaki Nation (Sokoki and St. Francis Bands). Waabu is
the former President, Aquidneck Indian Council, Inc. He is a member of and has served
as Council Secretary, The Rhode Island Indian Council, and is currently a Tribal Member
of the Dighton Intertribal Indian Council. Waabu graduated from Columbia University
with a Ph.D. degree, doing a dissertation on applied linguistics. Waabu is an elected
member of the New York Academy of Sciences. He was presented the American Medal
of Honor in 2004 by the American Biographical Institute. In 2005 he accepted the
International Order of Merit (IOM) from the International Biographical Centre of
Cambridge, England. Waabu is a disabled veteran from Tire Viet Nam War Era, and
makes his living as a career civil servant mathematician for The Department of Defense.

FILE=Squaw.doc

Aquidneck Indian Council, Inc., Newport, RI 02840-1412

Animals

&

Insects

attuckquock pequawus

Dr. Frank Waabu O'Brien

Aquidneck Indian Council

Aquidneck Indian Council, Newport, RI Page 1

5/17/2005

Animals

&

Insects

October, 2003

Massachusett-Narragansett Revival Program

A project for the reconstruction of the extinct American Indian Languages of

Southeastern New England

Dr. Frank Waabu O'Brien
Historical Consultant

Former President, Aquidneck Indian Council, Inc.
12 Curry Avenue
Newport, RI 02840-1412

e-mail : moondancer nuwc@hotmail.com

http://www.rootsweb.com/~rigenweb/IndianPlaceNames.htnil

Ulunnohlecionk

aiay peace be in your hearts

Reprinted and revised from —Strong Woman ® Moondancer. (1998). A Massachusett
Language Book, Vol. 1 Newport, RI: Aquidneck Indian Council.

This project was funded [in part] by Expansion Arts, a joint program of the Rhode
Island State Council on the Arts and the Rhode Island Foundation

Copyright © 2003 by Francis J. O'Brien, Jr., 12 Curry Avenue, Newport, RI 02840-1412, USA.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system.

Aquidneck Indian Council, Newport, RI Page 2

5/17/2005

or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording,
or otherwise, without the written permission of the author. Printed in the United States of
America.

- NOTES -

This short treatise stems from the research of the Massachusett-Narragansett Revival
Program, a project for the reconstruction of the extinct American Indian languages of
southeastern New England. Our intention is to make these works available to a wide audience.
Previous works are “The Word ‘Squaw’ in Historical and Modern Sources”
(http:/ / www.indianeduresearch.net/ squaw.pdf) and “Spirits and Family Relations” (ED
471405).

The present paper shows translations for about 100 names for Animals 1 & Insects taken
from the extinct American Indian Algonquian languages of southeastern New England,
Narragansett and Massachusett. Not all existing species were recorded by the missionaries of
Colonial New England. Occasionally vocabulary words are borrowed from the Pequot language,
Ojibway, Abenaki or Wampano (Iron Thunderhorse, 2000) when no extant terms were
discovered. Reconstruction of such words in Massachsuett-Narraganset may be modeled on these
terms from similar Algonquian languages. References are given below. One important document
(Trumbulls’ Natick Dictionary) is available on the Internet. The Goddard & Bragdon work is
important for linguistic theory.

In the Algonquian languages, living organisms are named for their outstanding
characteristics (color, sound, habit &c) such as tummunk = beaver (“he cuts trees”), a well known
characteristic of these amphibious animals. Sometimes the native peoples coined new words for
new animals introduced by Awaunagassuck (English “strangers”). We note that five words in
the Vocabulary were Americanized from the Algonquian languages (opossum, muskrat, moose,
skunk and squaw).

The vocabulary listing is presented alphabetically as a table of three columns. On the left
is the English language term being translated, as translated in the middle column (with
language/dialect identified except for Massachusett dialects), and any useful comments on the
right side (including etymology). The main contributing language is Massachusett" (Eliot,
Cotton and Trumbull references). “Reconstructed” refers to my own creation. The abbreviation
Narr. refers to the Narragansett language as recorded by Roger Williams (1643).

Pronunciation of words is not attempted owing to the scanty knowledge of this
language. For technical guidelines, see Goddard & Bragdon (1988). Strong 0 Woman
Moondancer (1998) provide a long guide to interpretation of vowel sounds and consonant-vowel
clusters along with the special diacritical symbols seen in the vocabulary.

Future works will focus on topical vocabularies for other areas such as fish, birds, human
body, etc.

1 Taken broadly to include all land animals (excluding birds). Although insects technically are animals, they are
distinguished for convenience.

" John Eliot translated the entire Bible into Natick dialect of the Massachusett (or Wampanoag) language.

Aquidneck Indian Council, Newport, RI Page 3

5/17/2005

REFERENCES

Cotton, Josiah (1707, 1830). "Vocabulary of the Massachusetts (Natick) Indian
Language." Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Historical Society Collection, Serial 3, Vol. II.

Eliot, John (1666). The Indian Grammar Begun; or, an Essay to Bring The Indian Language
into Rules for the Help of Such as Desire to Learn the Same for the Furtherance of the Gospel
Among Them. Cambridge, MA: Marmaduke Johnson.

Goddard, Ives and Kathleen J. Bragdon (1988). Native Writings in Massachusett ( Parts 1
& 2). Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society.

Iron Thunderhorse (2000). A Complete Language Guide To The Wampano/Quinnipiac R-
Dialect Of Southwestern New England. ACLI Series # 3. Milltown, IN: ACQTC/ACLI.

Josselyn, John (1674, 1675). Two Voyages to New-England, 1638 & 1663. Reprinted 1833 in
Collections of Massachusetts Historical Society, 3 ser., Ill, pp. 211-354.

Mayhew, Experience (1722, 1855). “Letter of Exp. Mayhew, 1722, on the Indian Language”.
New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. 39, pp. 10-17.

Moondancer ® Strong Woman. (1996, 2001). Understanding Algonquian Indian Words
(New England). Newport, RI: Aquidneck Indian Council.

Prince, J. Dyneley and Frank G. Speck (1904). "Glossary of the Mohegan-Pequot
Language". American Anthropologist, N.S., Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 18-45

Strong Woman ® Moondancer. (1998). A Massachusett Language Book, Vol. 1 Newport,
RI: Aquidneck Indian Council.

Trumbull, James H. (1903). Natick Dictionary. Washington, DC: Bureau of American
Ethnology. [ http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/ConsultationTout.exe?Q=0027474]

Williams, Roger (1643). A Key into the Language of America:, or, an Help to the Language of
the Natives in that Part of America called New-England. Together, with Briefe Observations of
the Customes, Manners and Worships, etc. of the Aforesaid Natives, in Peace and Wane, in Life
and Death. On all which are added Spirituall Observations, General and Particular by the
Author of chiefe and Special use (upon all occasions) to all the English Inhabiting those parts;
yet pleasant and profitable to the view of all men. London: Gregory Dexter. [Reprinted,
Providence: Narragansett Club, 1866, J. H. Trumbull (Ed.)].

Aquidneck Indian Council, Newport, RI Page 4

5/17/2005

VOCABULARY

(alphabetical)

— Animals & Insects —

ALGONQUIAN

(Narr. = Narragansett)

(oo = oo as in food)

• oaos, oaos

• oaus

• howass

• oskun (undressed)

• ohk°on (dressed)
annuneks

antler (see "horn")

mattappasquas (or) matabpusques

• mosq 3

• paukunawaw (Narr.)

• awausseus (Pequot)

• konooh (Pequot)

• puppinashim

• penashim (Narr.)

3 This term and the next also used to mean “Great Bear constellation” (Roger William, 1643)

Aquidneck Indian Council, Newport, RI Page 5 5/17/2005

"animal that sits (hangs)"

• black female bear?, "the licker";
a clan animal of Wampanoag

• related to "goes in the dark or
night"

• "a wild beast"

related to verb prefix pu- meaning
"motion all about" and -ashim- =
"animal"

bat

bear

beast (including any
domesticated animal)

COMMENT

• -as, -awus = “animal” are common
roots in composition

• -ahsim, -oshim & -sem , other
root evidently used for
quadrupeds

root is "raw"; cf. "bone"

"he seizes"

ANIMALS

(owaasineg)

& INSECTS

(cats, bulls, cows, pigs,
hogs, goats, horses,
cattle, sheep are
European imports)
animal in general,
beast, living
creatures

animal skin
ant

beaver

• tummunk, tummock (Narr.)

• noosup (Narr.)

• sum hup (Narr.)

• amisque

• tummunk & tummock is a live
adult ("he cuts trees")

• noosup is male ?

• sumhup is female ?

• amisque is generic name "water
beast"

bee

• aohkeom°os

• ohkeomm°°se

"a needle, a pin, stinger"

bobcat (see
"wildcat")

muskon

see "animal skin"

bull

nompashim netas

"4-legged domesticated male
animal"

butterfly

memengwa 4 (Ojibway)

related to "moving all about"

cat (house, european)

poopohs

imitative sound of paws + "little"

caterpillar

m°°pau

"a creeper, crawler"?

cattle (plural)

Netasuog (Narr.)

"house-fed animals" (i.e. do not
find own food); cf. "bull" & "cow"

centipede

monocoraunganish (Wampano)

chipmunk (or the
ground or stripped
squirrel)

anequs

"little colored squirrel"; from "he
seizes"

claw (see "hoof")

cows

• plural

• singular

• cowsnuck (Narr.)

• ushquashimwe netas

• English loan word

• "domesticated animal"

coyote

• mukquoshimwes

• muchquashimwese (Narr.)

"little wolf"; reconstructed; cf.
"wolf" & Endnote on "small"

cricket

chansomps (Wampano)

See "grasshopper"

deer 5

• ahtuk

Possibly "fallow deer" or "white-

4 The repetition of the first syllable me is a common feature in the Algonquian Indian languages, referred to as
frequentative or reduplication. It is a way of describing or emphasizing something that is going on repeatedly or
habitually. For example, momo nchu (“he is always on the move”; “he is always moving”). Popo wuttdhig (“drum”)
is another example — emphasizing the repetition of the popow sound of a drum. Look for other examples of
frequentative nouns in Vocabulary (cat, mole, horse, moth, mountain lion, rabbit, spider (?))

5 Some meanings of “deer” include any animal of the family of hoofed, cud-chewing animals such as moose, and
other animals not thought to be of this region (caribou, reindeer, etc.). A roe is a non-American small, swift deer. A
hart is a male deer, esp. red in color after the 5th year life of when the crown antlers are formed (also “stag”). A
buck is male, and doe is female; fawn is under a year old.

Aquidneck Indian Council, Newport, RI Page 6

5/17/2005

• attuck (Narr.)

tailed deer"; words derived from
"at the tree"? "wet nose"?; a clan
animal of Wampanoag

deer (hart, young
hart, stag, roe)

eiyomp (Narr.)

related to "male"

deer, doe

aunan & quuneke (Narr.)

related to "communicates (where
parents are)"?

deer, fawn

moosquin (Narr.)

related to "smooth" , "female"

deer, great buck

paucottauwat (Narr.)

related to "moves" and "turns" (the
deer's habit: move & turn)

deer, great buck

kehteiyomp (Narr.)

"great male"

deer, little young doe

qunnequawese (Narr.)

related to “communicates (where
parents are)”?; see Endnote on
“small”

deer, male

noonatch (Narr.)

"wet nose" or "doe with a fawn" ?

deer, old (hart)

nukkonahtuk

"old deer"

deer, tribute skin

pumpon (Narr.)

given to sachem when deer is killed
in water of sachem's land

deer, whole, part

• missesu (Narr.)

• poskattuck (Narr.)

• "whole thing (deer)"

• "half of a deer"

deer, young small
buck

wawwtinnes (Narr.)

related to "small", "turning"

deerfly

muchawas (Wampano)

dog 6

anum

"takes hold by mouth" or "howls"

dragonfly

odamoganak (Wampano)

plural ?

elk

woboz (Wampano)

Rare if ever a reference to this
animal in woods of RI or MA.

6 Different regional Algonquian dialects for word "dog” (Roger Williams, 1643) —

Anum, Cowweset dialect
Aylm, Narraganset dialect
Arum, Qunnippiuck ( Wampano ) dialect
Alum, Neepmuck dialect

Those tribes saying anum called N-dialect by linguists. Those tribes saying aylm called Y-dialect speakers. Those
tribes saying arum called R-dialect (e.g., Wampano) speakers, and those tribes saying alum called L-dialect
speakers. Perhaps the Indian dog was a hybrid, domesticated wolf. Dogs were a food source in times of scarcity,
and they were sacrificed by some tribes in ceremonies.

Aquidneck Indian Council, Newport, RI Page 7

5/17/2005

female animal (4-
legs)

squashim (Narr.)

from "female" and "animal"

fire fly

routawas (Wampano)

fisher

pekane (Abenaki)

looks like a squirrel and related to
weasels

flea

papekq

cf. "moth"

fly

• m°osuhq

• black fly ?, "black biter?"

• oochaus

• "animal moving all about"

fox (in general)

• wonkis (or) wonkussis

• from "he doubles back"

(applied to warriors' tactics such

• a'waumps, a'wumps (Pequot)

as Pometacomet (King Philip) of
Wampanoag)

• wonkqussissemes

•

• "little fox " (see endnote on
diminutive suffix form -ernes)

fox, black

moashim

Reconstructed ("black 4-legged
animal")

fox, gray

pequawus (Narr.)

"gray" & "animal"

fox, red

mishquashim (Narr.)

"red four-legged animal"

gnat, mosquito?

sogkemas

"a hard-biting fly"

goats (plural)

goatesuck (Narr.)

English loan word

grasshopper, locust

chansomps

From quooshau = "he jumps"? ; see
"cricket"

hair or fur of animals
(plural)

weshakmash

inanimate plural noun

hog (see "swine")

hoof, nail, claw

moohkos

"A sharp point"; inanimate noun

horn, antler

weween

"round, curved"; inanimate noun

horse

• horsesog

• nahnaiyeumoaodt

• naynayoumewot (Narr.)

• English loan word (plural)

• "creature that carries" with
onomatopoetic frequentative

• sound of horse — naynay + “to
carry”.

ladybug

arrumosis (Wampano)

leech

nepukskuks (Wampano)

Aquidneck Indian Council, Newport, RI Page 8

5/17/2005

okwa (Wampano)

• nomposhim

• enewashim (Narr.)

ween

wappenaugh

nottomag

mameechunit

• m°°s

• moos (Narr.)

mosquito (see "gnat")

moth pahpohkumas

male animal (4-legs)

marrow of bone

marten

mink

mole

from "male" and "animal" (cf.
"bull")

"white" ?; larger than the related
weasel

Root for "fish" (-amag)?

"eats plenty"

related to "trims, cuts smooth"; also
called "great ox, " red deer" or
"fallow deer"

'animal constantly waiting" or
'constantly changes direction"

mountain lion

mouse

muskrat

nail (see "hoof")

opossum

panther ?

pig (plural)

porcupine

rabbit (hare, "conie")

raccoon

quoqumna

abohquas

musquash

wapesem

• ox

• anakausu puppinashim

qunnon°°

pigsuck (Narr.)

• qak (Ojibway)

• kogwa (Wampano)

• mohtukquas

• wuhtokquas

• wautuckques (Narr.)

ausup (Narr.)

rat mishabohquas

sheep (plural) shepsog

sinew (leather string) • mutchoh (one piece )

• mutchohtash (many pieces)

"long tail"

related to "sitting, being in place"?
(cf. "rat")

"red animal"

"white animal"

• English loan word

• "laboring animal"

"long tail"; word also applies to
mountain lion

English loan word

• said "kahk” (?)

• "wet nose"

• "he eats young plant stems"?

• conie, “he ducks between”?

related to "holds with hands" or
"face washer"

"large mouse"

English loan word

inanimate noun as seen by suffix
plural marker -ash with
"accommodating t" preceding

Aquidneck Indian Council, Newport, RI Page 9

5/17/2005

skunk

squnck

"the sprayer" (still stinks!)

snail

askequttam

related to "raw, slimy"

snake

• ask°°k

• askug (Narr.)

"snake" or serpent in general,
related to "raw, slimy"

snake , black snake 7

• m°oaskug

• moaskug (Narr.)

"black" & " snake"

snake, garter

skuksiz (Wampano)

"snake" & "little"

snake, rattlesnake

• sesekq

• sesek (Narr.)

s-s-k sound of snake's tail,
animal revered by warriors

spider

mamunappeht

"net maker"

spider web

ashap

same word for "fishing net",
"hemp"

squirrel

mishanneke (Narr.)

"great squirrel" (cf. "chipmunk")

swine (plural)

• hogsuck (Narr.)

• pigsuck (Narr.)

English loan words

tail (of animal)

• wussukquin

• wussukqun (Narr.)

"his tail: meaning "long thing at
end" or "hook, curve at end"

venison, fat, flesh,
meat

weyaus

"flesh" of oaos

wasp

amoe (Wampano)

weasel

a'mucksh (Pequot)

See "muskrat"

wildcat, bobcat,
mountain lion, etc.

• pussough

• pussough (Narr.)

Imitative hissing sound

wolf

• mukquoshim

• muchquashim (Narr.)

• mogkeoaas

• mucks (Pequot)

• natoqus (Narr.)

• "animal that eats live flesh"; a
clan animal of Wampanoag

• "eats live flesh";

• great (large) animal

• great (large) animal

• "He feeds on deer"?

wolf 8 , black

moattoqus (Narr.)

"[deer eating?] black animal"; seen

7 “Black" + “snake” . Plural, moaskugog. This word shows the process (called polysynthesis) of combining two or
more words into one word with the individuals words becoming contracted. Moaskug comes from “he is black”
(mowesu) + “snake” (askug). The word mowesu became contracted or shortened to mo. Thus, to construct a word
“red snake”, we take animate form for “red” (mishquesu) + snake, or mishquaskug. The most difficult aspect of
analyzing compound words is identifying the original contracted root words; sometimes but a single letter represents
the original root (Mayhew, 1722).

Aquidneck Indian Council, Newport, RI Page 10

5/17/2005

as a sacred animal

woodchuck,

groundhog

ockgutchaun (Narr.)

"he goes under roots, he burrows"?

worm

• °°hg

• oohke

related to "raw, slimy"

Note: Names for animals and insects are "animate nouns" (they are alive and move). Their parts or

byproducts are inanimate nouns.

1. In Massachusett, animate noun plural form is given by the rule: Noun + og. The og said like -ak or

-ock (“clock”); e.g., “dog” = anum + wog = anumwog (a “w” glide is inserted between final

consonant stem and initial vowel plural marker.) Also see footnote for “snake, black”.

2. In Narragansett, animate noun plural typically written as Noun + ock (with glides)

3. To say "small" we add suffix -es or -s ("small") or -ernes ("smaller")

• -ese ("small") is sometimes seen in Narragansett

; One European observer [(Josselyn, John (1674, 1675)] remarked that there were two types of wolves: one with a
rounded ball-foot and one with a flat foot (“deer wolf’ because they preyed on the deer). Moattoqus (and noatdqus
(is this a misprint?) — maybe “he feeds on deer") may be the “deer wolf’ because we seem to see the root for deer
-attoq-, -atoq-. The final -us may be a formative related to the Natick dialect word daas meaning “animal” or
“animate being”

Aquidneck Indian Council, Newport, RI Page 1 1

5/17/2005

About the author—

Author: Dr. Frank Waabu. Courtesy of the author at The Naval Undersea
Warfare Center, Division Newport (Newport, RI)

Frank Waabu O'Brien (Dr. Francis Joseph O'Brien,
Jr.) is an historical consultant. He has Indian Status
from The Abenaki Nation (Sokoki and St. Francis
Bands). Waabu is the former President, Aquidneck
Indian Council, Inc. He is a member of and has
served as Council Secretary, The Rhode Island Indian
Council, and is currently a Tribal Member of the
Dighton Intertribal Indian Council. Waabu
graduated from Columbia University with a Ph.D.
degree, doing a dissertation on applied linguistics.
Waabu is an elected member of the New York
Academy of Sciences. He was presented the
American Medal of Honor in 2004 by the American
Biographical Institute. In 2005 he accepted the
International Order of Merit (IOM) from the
International Biographical Centre of Cambridge,
England. He is a disabled veteran from The Viet
Nam War Era, and makes his living as a career civil
servant mathematician for The Department of
Defense.

Aquidneck Indian Council, Newport, RI Page 12

5/17/2005

Birds

&

Fowl

kaukont mashquanon

Dr. Frank Waabu O'Brien

Aquidneck Indian Council

Aquidneck Indian Council, Newport, RI Page 1

5/17/2005

Birds

&

Fowl

November , 2003

Massachusett-Narragansett Revival Program

A project for the reconstruction of the extinct American Indian Languages of

Southeastern New England

Dr. Frank Waabu O'Brien
Historical Consultant

Former President, Aquidneck Indian Council, Inc.
12 Curry Avenue
Newport, RI 02840-1412

e-mail : moondaiicer _nuwc@hotmail.com

http://www.rootsweb.com/~rigenweb/IndianPlaceNames.html

UUunnohteaonk

*

(IIAY PERCE BE IR YOUR NEflRTI

Reprinted and revised from —Strong Woman 0 Moondancer. (1998). A Massachusett
Language Book, Vol. 1. Newport, RI: Aquidneck Indian Council.

This project was funded [in part] by Expansion Arts, a joint program of the Rhode
Island State Council on the Arts and the Rhode Island Foundation

Copyright © 2003 by Francis J. O'Brien, Jr., 12 Curry Avenue, Newport, RI 02840-1412, USA.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording.

Aquidneck Indian Council, Newport, RI Page 2

5/17/2005

or otherwise, without the written permission of the author. Printed in the United States of
America.

- NOTES -

This short treatise stems from the research of the Massachusett-Narragansett Revival
Program, a project for the reconstruction of the extinct American Indian languages of
southeastern New England. Our intention is to make these works available to a wide audience.
Previous works are “The Word ‘Squaw’ in Historical and Modern Sources”
(http:/ / www .indianeduresearch.net/ squaw.pdf) , “Spirits and Family Relations” (ED
471405) & “Animals & Insects.”

The present paper shows translations for about 50 names for Birds and Fowl taken from
the extinct American Indian Algonquian languages of southeastern New England, Narragansett
and Massachusett. Not all existing species were recorded by the missionaries of Colonial New
England. Occasionally vocabulary words are borrowed from the Pequot language, Ojibway,
Chippewa, Abenaki or Wampano when no extant terms were discovered. Reconstruction of such
words in Massachusett-Narraganset may be modeled on these terms from similar Algonquian
languages. References are given below. One important document (Trumbulls’ Natick
Dictionary) is available on the Internet. The Goddard & Bragdon work is important for linguistic
theory.

In the Algonquian languages, living organisms are named for their outstanding
characteristics (color, sound, habit &c) such as hdnck = “Canadian Goose” (onomatopoetic), a
well known sound in the southeastern New England sky-land. Unlike animals, few birds/fowl
were introduced to the new world in the 17 th century by Awaunagassuck (English “strangers”). .

The vocabulary listing is presented alphabetically as a table of three columns. On the left
is the English language term being translated, as translated in the middle column (with
language/dialect identified except for Massachusett dialects), and any useful comments on the
right side (including etymology). The main contributing language is Massachusett 1 (Eliot,

Cotton and Trumbull references). The abbreviation Narr. refers to the Narragansett language as
recorded by Roger Williams (1643). The abbreviation “Wm. Wood” refers to the vocabulary
compiled by William Wood in 1634. William Wood wrote an expository work of his 17 th
century experiences in the New World, entitled New Englands Prospect, which summarized his
experiences among the Massachuseuck (Massachusett Indians, “People of the Great Hills).

Pronunciation of words is not attempted owing to the scanty knowledge of this
language. For technical guidelines, see Goddard & Bragdon (1988). Strong Woman ®
Moondancer (1998) provide a long guide to interpretation of vowel sounds and consonant-vowel
clusters along with the special diacritical symbols seen in the vocabulary.

Future works will focus on topical vocabularies for other areas such as fish, birds, human
body, etc.

1 John Eliot translated the entire Bible into Natick dialect of the Massachusett (or Wampanoag) language.

Aquidneck Indian Council, Newport, RI Page 3

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REFERENCES

Baraga, Frederic (1878, 1992). A Dictionary of the Ojibway Language. St. Paul, MN:
Minnesota Historical Society.

Cotton, Josiah (1707, 1830). "Vocabulary of the Massachusetts (Natick) Indian
Language." Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Historical Society Collection, Serial 3, Vol. II.

Day, Gordon (1995). Western Abenaki Dictionary. Vol. 2: English- Abenaki. Quebec:
Canadian Museum of Civilization.

Eliot, John (1666). The Indian Grammar Begun; or, an Essay to Bring The Indian Language
into Rules for the Help of Such as Desire to Learn the Same for the Furtherance of the Gospel
Among Them. Cambridge, MA: Marmaduke Johnson.

Goddard, Ives and Kathleen J. Bragdon (1988). Native Writings in Massachusett ( Parts 1
& 2). Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society.

Iron Thunderhorse (2000). A Complete Language Guide To The Wampano/Quinnipiac R-
Dialect Of Southwestern New England. ACLI Series # 3. Milltown, IN: ACQTC/ACLI.

Moondancer 0 Strong Woman. (1996, 2001). Understanding Algonquian Indian Words
(New England). Newport, RI: Aquidneck Indian Council.

Prince, J. Dyneley and Frank G. Speck (1904). "Glossary of the Mohegan-Pequot
Language". American Anthropologist, N.S., Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 18-45

Strong Woman 0 Moondancer. (1998). A Massachusett Language Book, Vol. 1 Newport,
RI: Aquidneck Indian Council.

Trumbull, James H. (1903). Natick Dictionary. Washington, DC: Bureau of American
Ethnology. f http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/ConsultationTout.exe?Q=00274741

Williams, Roger (1643). A Key into the Language of America:, or, an Help to the Language of
the Natives in that Part of America called New-England. Together, with Briefe Observations of
the Customes, Manners and Worships, etc. of the Aforesaid Natives, in Peace and Wane, in Life
and Death. On all which are added Spirituall Observations, General and Particular by the

Aquidneck Indian Council, Newport, RI Page 4

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Author of chiefe and Special use (upon all occasions) to all the English Inhabiting those parts;
yet pleasant and profitable to the view of all men. London: Gregory Dexter. [Reprinted,
Providence: Narragansett Club, 1866, J. H. Trumbull (Ed.)].

William Wood (1634). New England Prospect. A True, lively, and experimentall description
of that part of America, commonly called New England: discovering the state of that countrie,
both as it stands to our new-come English Planters; and to the old native inhabitants. Laying
down that which may both enrich the knowledge of the mind-travelling Reader, or benefit the
future Voyager. London: Tho. Cotes.

Aquidneck Indian Council, Newport, RI Page 5

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VOCABULARY

(alphabetical)

— Birds & Fowl —

BIRDS & FOWL

(Narr. = narragansett)
(oo = oo as in food)

bird

• psuk

• psuk = a bird; may be sound of

• psukses

birds taking-off

• pussekesesuck (Narr.)

• little bird

• pissuksemesog

• birds

• very small birds

bird egg shell

• wohhogke

• "a body"

• anna

• also used for "sea shell"

bird nest

woddish

"he comes or proceeds from"

bird wing

• wunnuppoh

• wunnup (Narr.)

bird/fowl in general

puppinshaas

"half bird"

blackbird

• chogan 2 (Narr.)

• from "spotted"

• massowyan (Pequot)

•

• auchugyeze (Pequot)

•

• niccone (Wm. Wood)

•

bluejay

tideso (Wampano)

brant (brantgoose, a

• menuks

"bad fowl"?

dark colored goose)

• munnucks (Narr.)

Canadian goose &

• honck

• one Canadian goose

2 Plural = choganeuck . Millions of these pests ate up the corn planted in the fields. High-perched sentries of young
boys were set up to scare them away which became the "scare crow" of America. Crows also fed on the crops but
they were not harmed since they were an integral part of legend as a sacred bird.

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geese 3

• honckock

both Narr.

• many Canadian geese
natural sound of goose/geese

catbird

minowizisibs (Wampano)

chicken

ke'eeps (Wampano)

claws, talons
(plural 4 )

muhkossog

"sharp points, hooks"

cock 5

• monish nampashim ?

• chicks (Narr.)

• from "male"; see "hen"

• English loan word

cormorants

• kuts

• kuttis

• kits (Narr.)

from "washes himself"?

crane

• tannag

• taunek (Narr.)

"croaker", from "hoarse"

crow

• kongkont

• kaukont (Narr.)

caw! caw! sound; a sacred bird who
brought Indians their beans and
corn from southwest according to
legend

cuckoo

• kiyunk

• kukkow 6

imitates bird's sound; not certain of
what type cuckoo

duck

• sesep

• qunusseps

• quequecum (Narr.)

• quauquaumps (Pequot)

• seaseap (Wm. Wood)

• from "he dives"? or "stretches"?

• re "long stretcher or diver"?

• sound of "quack! quack!

• imitative sound, black duck

•

eagle 7

• wompsikuk

• wompsukook

• wompissacuk (Narr.)

egg

• wou

• woou

From "he comes from"

feather (or quill ?)

• mequin

• meegk

"long hard thing" (Massasoit was
named Ousa Mequin = "Yellow

3 Word is imitative sound. Interestingly this word is the sound we hear these majestic birds make by themselves in a
flock in flight. The next line indicates the sound made when more than one goose "honks" at once. One must
experience this phenomenon to know its significance.

4 Rare for an animal part to be “animate noun” by plural form “-og”.

5 See Trumbull, p. 235 (“*cock”)

6 The repetition of the first syllable ku is a common feature in the Algonquian Indian languages, referred to as
frequentative or reduplication (coinciding in this case with onomatopoetic). It is a way of describing or
emphasizing something that is going on repeatedly or habitually. For example, momon chu (“he is always on the
move”; “he is always moving”). Popo wuttdhis (“drum”) is another example — emphasizing the repetition of the
popow sound of a drum. Look for other examples of frequentative nouns in Vocabulary (duck, owl, robin, snipe,
sparrow, swallow, woodpecker).

7 Word may also mean include fishhawk or osprey. The word means "great white tail". The eagles’ feather was
worn by great warriors (turkey & hawk feathers also worn by warriors) .

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Feather")

fowler (bird hunter)

adchaenin

"A hunter"

hawk

• quanunon

• owohsh

• mashquanon

• peeksq (or) peeskq

• manamaquas (Wampano)

• wushowunan (Narr.)

• long tailed hawk (marsh hawk
in Wampano)

• owoh may be sound of beating
wings

• big, long- tailed hawk (red- tail?)

• night hawk

• fishhawk

• wushowunan may be
whoosing sound

A hawk's feather was worn by

accomplished warriors or

important leaders (sachem).

heathcock (pinnated
grouse or prairie hen;
may include
partridge or
pheasant )

aunckuck (Narr.)

from "he paints himself"

hen

monish

See "cock"

heron

gasko (Wampano)

humming bird

anassas

Indigenous?

kingfisher

ceskwadadas (Wampano)

kite (raven)

• qussukquanash

• weewont

• something to do with "stones,
fruit pits"?

• related to "little"

loon

medasibs (Wampano)

meadow lark

pauishoons (Pequot)

owl 8

• oohoomaus

• kcohcokhomwem 9

• kehche k°°h°okhaus

• weewees

• kicheweewees (Narr.)

• °oh°o i s imitative sound

• little owl

• great owl

• screech owl

• great screech owl

partridge

• paupock (Narr.)

• pahpahkshaas

from "animal that blows"?

s The owl is a feared animal because he dwells in the dark and may represent an evil spirit. Indians are fearful of the
dark, for night is the time when departed Spirits dwell in the forest along with the animal Spirits. Some say the
departed hunt the animals as in life on earth. Life seems to go on there — for those who have crossed over to the
Afterlife. Many stories are told about what happens to people after death.

9 Typically we expect to see ending “-es” or “ernes” for diminutive (“small or smaller”).

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wuskowhan (Narr.)

quails (plural)

quill

robin

sachim (king bird)

seagull

snipe

sparrow (used also
for the swallow)

swallow

pohquemek

quequisquitch (Pequot)

sachim (Narr.)

uhpuckachip (Pequot)

• cheecheesquan (Ojibway)

• puhpushkuhse (Chippewa)?

• sasaso (Abenaki)

mameesashques

papaskhas

wequash (Narr.)

• neyhom (Narr.)

• nahenam (Wm. Wood)

"whoosh"; same word for dove?

sound of bird?

"see through"

related to his quick movement ?

small-swallow-like-bird noted for
its sachim-like qualities of courage
against larger birds; may be a hawk

"he eats by smashing things up"?

snipe was a Wampanoag clan
animal

related to "fast, eat, little"

related to "everywhere, eat, fast"

"light colored creature"

• sound of bird; also a warrior's
feather. Turkey feathers also
made a fine coat called
Neyhommauashunck.

whippoorwill

white-goose (snow
goose)

woodland thrush

woodpecker

related to birds' sound

"white bird"

pecking sound

muckko-wheese (Pequot)

• wompohtuk

• wompatuck (Narr.)

• wawpatucke (Wm. Wood)

? (searching for)

pahpahsa (chippewa)

Note: Names for birds and fowl are "animate nouns" (they are alive and move). Their parts or
byproducts are inanimate nouns.

• In Massachusett, animate noun plural form is given by the rule: Noun + og ; e.g.,
"quails" = ch°°ch°° + waog = ch°°ch°°waog. (a "w" glide and reduced vowel "a" are
inserted between final vowel stem and initial vowel plural marker.). The og said like
ock ("clock").

o In Narragansett, plural written typically as Noun + ock ("geese" = honck +
ock = honckock).

• To say "small" we add suffix -es or -s ("small") or -ernes ("smaller")

o -ese ("small") is sometimes seen in Narragansett

Wuskowowhananafikit = “At the abode of pigeons" or "pigeon country". An actual place (in present-day
Worcester County, MA, in the northern part of the Niprnuc country ) where this bountiful delicacy was taken in
large numbers.

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About the author—

Author: Dr. Frank Waabu. Courtesy of the author at The Naval Undersea
Warfare Center, Division Newport (Newport, RI)

Frank Waabu O’Brien (Dr. Francis Joseph O’Brien, Jr.)
is an historical consultant. He has Indian Status from The
Abenaki Nation (Sokoki and St. Francis Bands). Waabu is
the former President, Aquidneck Indian Council, Inc. He
is a member of and has served as Council Secretary, The
Rhode Island Indian Council, and is currently a Tribal
Member of the Dighton Intertribal Indian Council. Waabu
graduated from Columbia University with a Ph.D. degree,
doing a dissertation on applied linguistics. Waabu is an
elected member of the New York Academy of Sciences. He
was presented the American Medal of Honor in 2004 by the
American Biographical Institute. In 2005 he accepted
International Order of Merit (IOM) from the International
Biographical Centre of Cambridge, England. He is a disabled
veteran from The Viet Nam War Era, and makes his living
as a career civil servant mathematician for The Department
of Defens

Aquidneck Indian Council, Newport, RI Page 10

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Fish and Aquatic Animals

kauposh mishcup

mishodn

poquauhock

Dr. Frank Waabu O'Brien
Aquidneck Indian Council

Fish and Aquatic Animals

November , 2003

Native American Indian Heritage Month

Massachusett-Narragansett Revival Program

A project for the reconstruction of the extinct American Indian Languages of

Southeastern New England

Dr. Frank Waabu O'Brien
Historical Consultant

Former President, Aquidneck Indian Council, Inc.
12 Curry Avenue
Newport, RI 02840-1412

e-mail: moondancer nuwc@hotmail.com

http://www.rootsweb.com/~rigenweb/IndianPlaceNames.html

WUNNOHTEAONK

MAY PEACE BE IN YOUR HEARTS

Reprinted and revised from —Strong Woman ® Moondancer. (1998). A
Massachusett Language Book, Vol. 1. Newport, RI: Aquidneck Indian Council.

This project was funded [in part] by Expansion Arts, a joint program of the Rhode
Island State Council on the Arts and the Rhode Island Foundation

Copyright © 2003 by Francis J. O'Brien, Jr., 12 Curry Avenue, Newport, RI 02840-1412, USA.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the author. Printed in the United
States of America.

u

- NOTES -

This short treatise stems from the research of the Massachusett-Narragansett
Revival Program, a project for the reconstruction of the extinct American Indian
languages of southeastern New England. Our intention is to make these works
available to a wide audience. Other related works are "The Word 'Squaw' in
Historical and Modern Sources" (' http://www.indianeduresearch.net/squaw.pdf) ,
"Spirits and Family Relations" (ED 471405), "Animals & Insects, " "Birds & Fowl",
& "Muhhog: the Human Body".

The present paper shows translations for about 130 names for fish and aquatic
animals and related terms taken from the extinct American Indian Algonquian
languages of southeastern New England, Narragansett, Massachusett and related
dialects. Not all species were recorded by the missionaries of Colonial New England.
Occasionally vocabulary words are borrowed from the Pequot language, Wampano
(Iron Thunderhorse, 2000) and a north Boston-Shore dialect when no extant terms were
discovered or for purposes of comparison. Reconstruction of such words in
Massachusett-Narragansett may be modeled on these terms from similar Algonquian
languages. References are given below. One important document (Trumbulls' Natick
Dictionary) is available on the Internet as a PDF document (can view book as it is
written). In addition, it has been brought to my attention recently that many
Algonquian texts are now available (as ASCII files; not as originally written) at the
following address:

http://www.people.umass.edu/aef6000/Texts/Algonquian/Algnqn.html .

The Goddard & Bragdon work is important for linguistic theory.

The vocabulary listing is presented alphabetically as a table of three columns.
On the left is the English language term being translated, as translated in the middle
column (with language/dialect identified), and any useful comments on the right side
(including etymology). The main contributing language is Massachusett 1 (Eliot,
Cotton and Trumbull references). The abbreviation Narr. refers to the Narragansett
language as recorded by Roger Williams (1643). Pequot is a reference to the
glossary of Prince and Speck (1904). The abbreviation "Wm. Wood" refers to the 275-
word vocabulary compiled by William Wood in 1634. William Wood wrote an
expository work of his 17 th century experiences in the New World, entitled New
Englands Prospect, which summarized his observations among the Massachuseuck
(Massachusett Indians, "People of the Great Hills"). The character &c means "etc."
Notes in the COMMENT column are itemized by "bullets" ( • ) when multiple

1 John Eliot translated the entire Bible into Natick dialect of the Massachusett (or Wampanoag) language.

iii

Algonquian translations are listed; the order of the "bullets" in each column
correspond.

Pronunciation of words is not attempted owing to the scanty knowledge of
this language. For technical guidelines, see Goddard & Bragdon (1988). Strong
Woman 0 Moondancer (1998) provide a long guide to interpretation of vowel
sounds and consonant-vowel clusters along with the special diacritical symbols seen
in the vocabulary.

Future works will focus on topical vocabularies for other areas.

REFERENCES

Cotton, Josiah (1707, 1830). "Vocabulary of the Massachusetts (Natick) Indian
Language." Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Historical Society Collection, Serial 3, Vol.
II.

Eliot, John (1666). The Indian Grammar Begun; or, an Essay to Bring The Indian Language
into Rules for the Help of Such as Desire to Learn the Same for the Furtherance of the Gospel
Among Them. Cambridge, MA: Marmaduke Johnson.

Goddard, Ives and Kathleen J. Bragdon (1988). Native Writings in Massachusett ( Parts
1 & 2). Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society.

Huden, John C. (1962) Indian Place Names of New England. New York: Museum of the
American Indian (Heye Foundation).

Iron Thunderhorse (2000). A Complete Language Guide To The Wampano/Quinnipiac R-
Dialect Of Southwestern New England. ACLI Series # 3. Milltown, IN: ACQTC/ACLI.

Moondancer 0 Strong Woman. (1996, 2001). Understanding Algonquian Indian Words
(New England). Newport, RI: Aquidneck Indian Council.

Prince, J. Dyneley and Frank G. Speck (1904). "Glossary of the Mohegan-Pequot
Language". American Anthropologist, N.S., Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 18-45

Prince, J. Dyneley. (1907). "Living echoes of Natick". American Anthropologist, N.S.,
Vol. 9, pp. 493-498.

Strong Woman 0 Moondancer. (1998). A Massachusett Language Book, Vol. 1
Newport, RI: Aquidneck Indian Council.

Trumbull, James H. (1903). Natick Dictionary. Washington, DC: Bureau of American
Ethnology. f http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/ConsultationTout.exe?O=0Q274741

v

Williams, Roger (1643). A Key into the Language of America:, or, an Help to the Language
of the Natives in that Part of America called New-England. Together, with Briefe
Observations of the Customes, Manners and Worships, etc. of the Aforesaid Natives, in Peace
and Wane, in Life and Death. On all which are added Spirituall Observations, General and
Particular by the Author of chiefe and Special use (upon all occasions) to all the English
Inhabiting those parts; yet pleasant and profitable to the view of all men. London: Gregory
Dexter. [Reprinted, Providence: Narragansett Club, 1866, J. H. Trumbull (Ed.)].

William Wood (1634). New England Prospect. A True, lively, and experimentall
description of that part of America, commonly called New England : discovering the state of
that countrie, both as it stands to our new-come English Planters; and to the old native
inhabitants. Laying down that which may both enrich the knowledge of the mind-travelling
Reader, or benefit the future Voyager. London: Tho. Cotes.

vi

VOCABULARY

(alphabetical)

— Fish—

FISH (naumaussuck)

& AQUATIC ANIMALS

algonquian
(oo = oo as in food)

COMMENT

alligator

kakadorok (Wampano)

Not indigenous to RI or
MA

bass

• suggig (Wm. Wood)

"a bass"

bass, striped bass

• missuckeke

• missuckeke (Narr.)

• "large striped"

bluefish

aquaundunt (Pequot)

breame 2

sequanamauquock (Narr.)

plural, "Early Summer
[Spring] fish"

canoe (boat)

• mish°<>n 3 (or) mushoan =
any large canoe or
dugout

• mishoon = Indian canoe
or dugout (Narr.) [see
front cover]

• mishoonemese 4 = smaller
mishoon (Narr.)

• peenoon = small floater

• mishlttouwand = great
canoe 5 (Narr.)

• peewasu 6 = a little one
(canoe) (Narr.)

• paugatemissaund = oak

2 a European freshwater cyprinid fish ( Abramis brama ); broadly : any of various related fishes 2 a : a
porgy or related fish (family Sparidae) b : any of various freshwater sunfishes ( Lepomis and related
genera); especially : BLUEGILL (Merriam-Webster Diet.)

3 Root word is oon = "floater".

4 Plural, Mishoonemesash.

5 Larger than mishoon ? Some carried up to 40 men sometimes in a sea-fight.

6 "It is little".

canoe (Narr.)

• kowwawwawand = pine
canoe (Narr.)

• wompmissaund 7 =
chestnut canoe (Narr.)

• wunnauanounuck 8 = a
shallop 9 (Narr.)

• wunnauanounuckquese
= a small shallop, skiffe 10
(Narr.)

• kitonuck 11 = a ship
(Narr.)

• kitonuckquese = small
ship (Narr.)

• kunnosnep 12 (Narr) =
anchor

• wutkunck 13 (Narr) =
paddle, "his wood stick"

carp kikomkwa (Wampano)

7 From chestnuts = "white-nut tree".

8 In the words for "boat" (shallop, skiff), we see a common root -ounuck, -onuck, meaning "vessel" in
the sense of something which carries or transports; we get the word for "cradle board" ( kounuk ) from
this root. Native peoples created these words when they saw the large ships of the Europeans. They
believed the Mayflower was an island with a large tree.

9 A small open boat used by the English propelled by oars or sails and used chiefly in shallow waters.
(Merriam-Webster Diet.)

10 Any of various small boats used by the English; especially: a flat-bottomed rowboat. (Merriam-
Webster Diet.)

11 "A great carrying tree," probably like the Mayflower.

12 Word seems misspelled since we see root for "stone" (-sen-).

13 "His wood stick".

viii

chub

amamaga (Wampano)

clam

• poquauhock (Narr.)

• common quahog;

(or) poquauhog

"closed hard shell";

• sickissuog 14 (Narr.)

this was shellfish

• suckis suacke (Wm.

from which the

Wood)

inner rim gave
"purple wampum"
[see front cover]

• long black

• "a clam"

codfish

• anishamog

• Plural, "smells

• pauganaunt (Narr.)

badly [when not

• noei comquocke

properly cured]"

(Wm. Wood)

• Cod 15

• "a codfish"

crab

katawam ?

Conjectured,

reconstructed from a place
name in Huden (p. 75)

cunner 16 (chogsets)

cachauxet (Pequot)

"marked with spots or
stripes"

eel, eelpot

mihtuckquashep 17 (Narr.)

eel, larger eelpot

kunnagqunneuteg 18 (Narr.)

eels (plural)

• neeshauog & neeshauog

• "go in pairs"

(Narr.)

• "smooth, slippery.

• sassammauquock (Narr.)

glossy"

• nquitteconnauog &
nquitteconnauog (Narr.)

• "goes by self"

14 The "squirter, spittler"; imitative of spitting sound. A sweet shellfish loved by the Native peoples,
but dug up by roaming English livestock (swine), the animal most hated by Indians for stealing their
food.

15 The first that comes before the Spring.

16 A wrasse ( Tautogolabrus adspersus) common along the northeastern U.S. and adjacent Canadian
coast; any of a large family (Labridae) of elongate compressed usually brilliantly colored marine bony
fishes that usually bury themselves in sand at night and include important food fishes as well as a
number of popular aquarium fishes. (Merriam-Webster diet.)

17 "Tree- wood net".

18 -qunne- = "long"; -eg means "the thing that is".

IX

fish 19

• namohs

• namohsog

• naumaus (Narr.)

• naumaussuck (Narr.)

• kehtahhannamagquog

• mogkom

• mogkommaquog

• peeamaug (Pequot)

• "water animal"

• plural

•

• plural

• plural, "large fish of
the ocean"

• "great fish"

• "great fishes", plural

• "little fish" ; plural
adds -suck

fish fin

wapwekan

fish hook and line

om

fish, a fish-tail

wussuckqun

fish, a half fish

poquesu 20

fish, a sweet fat

osacontuck (Narr.)

Like a haddock, and may
also be the hake, pollack,
whiting, or cusk fish.

fish, a whole fish

missesu 21

fish, bait

onawangonnakaun (Narr.)

fish, fresh fish 22

qunosuog 23 (Narr.)

plural

fish, head of

uppaquontup (Narr.)

fish, small winterfish
(plural)

moamitteaug (Narr.)

"black fish"? smelt?
minnow?

fish, winterfish

paponaumsuog 24

plural

fisherman

n°°tamogquaenin

from "he fishes"

fishers, fishermen 25

aumachick &

natuckqunnuwachick 26

(Narr.)

19 Look for the root for "fish" (-am- & -aum- & - om -) which implies fishing with a hook.

20 "It is half" or "a part" in general.

21 "It is large (the whole thing)" in general.

22 They were taken in winter through the fresh-water ice. In Pequot, called quunoose ("long nose"), the
pickerel.

23 "They are long".

24 "Frost fish", "Tom Cod", which migrates to brooks from the seas.

25 Since verbs end in -chick, the usual suppositive mode is assumed, "They who fish; they who are
fisherman".

26 Since verbs end in -chick, the usual suppositive mode is assumed, "They who fish; they who are
fisherman".

X

fishing hook

hoquaun 27 (Narr.)

fishing hook, large one

maumacocks (Narr.)

fishing hook, little one

peewasicks 28 (Narr.)

fishing line

aumanep (Narr.)

fishing net

• ashap

• ashop 29 (Narr.)

hemp or fishing net

fishing-net sinker (stone)

assinab

from "stone & net"

flounder

apaginamas (Wampano)

freshfish (wintertime)

qunosuog

plural, "long ones"

frog

• tinogkukquas

• kopiauss (or) kupyas
(Pequot)

"jumping animal" or
"croaker"

frog, small, toad

tinnogkohteas

see "frog" with "small'
added

haddock (pollock,
whiting or cusk?)

pakonnotam

herring

• ommis ?

• aumsuog &
munnawhatteaug 30
(Narr.)

• "small fish"?

• plural

horsefish

sequnnock 31 (Narr.)

plural, "Spring fish"; shell
chopped up for fertilizer

island

• aquidne 32

• munnoh

• "floating, suspended
mass"

• from "dry place"

lampries

• qunnamaug

• qunnamaug (Narr.)

• “long fish", plural

•

lobster

• ashaunt

• au so hau nouc hoc
(Wm. Wood)

• "he goes
backwards" (how
they crawl)

• "lobster"

27 Root hoc]- means "hook-shaped".

28 Small things in general (basket, fish, &c.)

29 Word also used for "flax" & "spider web". Perhaps general name for vegetable fiber used to make
rope, nets, etc., made from Indian Hemp (fibrous plants); also used a fish sinker called assinab ("stone
net").

30 Literally "they enrich the soil" (used as fish fertilizer for corn, etc., a practice which they taught to
the English, one of the many contributions of the First Americans to awaunagussuck on this land).

31 "Summer long shellfish".

: RI place name Aquidneck means “on the island" which show the stem Aquidn.

XI

long clam

sukkissuog

"he spittles or spits",
plural

mackerel

• wawwhunneke

• wawwhunnekesuog
(Narr.)

• "he is fat"

• "It is well-bodied",
plural

menhaden (alewife)
(plural)

• aumauog

• munnawhatteaug

• "alewife

• "white or bony fish"
(com fertilizer, "he
enriches soil")

otter

nkeke

"he scratches, tears"

oyster

• chunkco

• apwonnah

• opponenauhock 33

•

• "he roasts"

• plural

perch

momoramagwsek

(Wampano)

periwinkles

meteauhock 34

Plural, "ear shaped shell";
the neck of shell gave
"white wampum" beads

pickerel

qunosuog

plural

pike

quinnoza (Wampano)

polliwog

agorraweji (Wampano)

porpoises

tatackommauog 35 (Narr.)

plural, "he strikes and
strikes"

quahog (see clam)

quahog, purple rim of

suckauhock 36

salamander

kakadoroksiz (Wampano)

salmon (plural)

• mishquammauog

• mishquammauquock 37
(Narr.)

"red fish"

33 "Shell fish to roast".

34 "Ear-shaped shell" [for white wampum beads; the shell also called a "whelk"].

35 "He strikes and strikes the water". The repetition of the first syllable tatac kom (one porpoise) is a
common feature in the Algonquian Indian languages, referred to as frequentative or reduplication. It
is a way of describing or emphasizing something that is going on repeatedly or habitually. For
example, momo nchu ("he is always on the move"; "he is always moving"). Popo wuttahig ("drum") is
another example— emphasizing the repetition of the popow sound of a drum.

36 Sucki- = "dark-colored" (purple); -hock = "shell, external covering". The dark purple wampum beads
from this quahog shell were worth 3 to the English penny, or twice the value of the white beads.

37 A place where salmon were caught is called Misquamicut ("place of the red fish"). Westerly, RI. It
is seen that little corruption exists in the place name (not a common occurrence).

xii

sand dune, bank, sand

nagunt

"sand"

scallop

kagadigen (Wampano)

scuppaug (porgy)

misheup

related to "large" or "red"
[see front cover]

shad

magahaghe (Wampano)

shark

mattaquab (language?)

Can't locate source for this
word; perhaps from
Micmac or other northern
Algonquian languages

sheepshead 38

taut (Narr.)

smelt (see "fish, small
winterfish (plural")

snail

askequttum (Wampano)

snapping or sea turtle

torupe

spring fish

sequanamauquock (Narr.)

plural, "early summer
fish" (bream?)

sturgeon

kauposh 39 (Narr.)

torchlight fishing

wikwasin

Wequai = light in Natick
(Prince, 1907)

trout

mishuskou

"red", "turning back"

turtle/tortoise

tunuppasog 40

"near water";
Wampanoag clan animal

water (fishing places)

• paumpagussit 41 = sea
spirit

• kehtoh = ocean, "great
unending thing"

• weehekum 42 = the sea,
ocean (Narr.)

• kitthan 43 = the sea, ocean
(Narr.), from "extended"

• nippe = fresh (drinking)
water, from "sits still"

38 A marine bony fish ( Archosargus probatocephalus of the family Sparidae) of the Atlantic and Gulf
coasts of the U.S. that has broad incisor teeth and is used for food (Merriam Webster Diet.)

39 Perhaps from "impenetrable back". These large fish were sometimes hunted at night by torchlight.

40 Trumbull seems to suggest this is animate, singular, but suffix -og suggests plural animate form.

41 From pummoh (in Natick dialect), an old word meaning "sea".

42 Perhaps from a word used by coastal Indians meaning "it produces, gives" fish.

43 "Great expanse". Plural kittannash.

xiii

• sepi = river (usually long
one like the Conneticut
river)

• nippissipog = pond or
small lake

• massapog = big lake,
"large body of still
water"

• sepues = brook, stream or
little river

• aucup (Narr.) = cove or
creek

• aucuppawese (Narr.)=
little cove or creek"

water mocassin

nipiiskok (Wampano)

"fresh water" + "snake"

whale

• p°°taop

• potoppauog (Narr.)

• "he blows" ("thar she
blows!")

• plural

whalebone

Waskeke (Narr.)

white fish ( bony fish)

munnawhatteaug

plural, "he enriches the
earth", a fish like a herring
and also used as fertilizer

winterfish

paponoumsuog

plural , "winter fish"

XIV

About the author—

Author: Dr. Frank Waabu. Courtesy of the author at The Naval
Undersea Warfare Center, Division Newport (Newport, RI)

Frank Waabu O'Brien (Dr. Francis Joseph
O'Brien, Jr.) is an historical consultant. He has
Indian Status from The Abenaki Nation (Sokoki
and St. Francis Bands). Waabu is the former
President, Aquidneck Indian Council, Inc. He is a
member of and has served as Council Secretary,
The Rhode Island Indian Council, and is currently
a Tribal Member of the Dighton Intertribal Indian
Council. Waabu graduated from Columbia
University with a Ph.D. degree, doing a
dissertation on applied linguistics. Waabu is an
elected member of the New York Academy of
Sciences. He was presented the American Medal
of Honor in 2004 by the American Biographical
Institute. In 2005 he accepted International Order
of Merit (IOM) from the International
Biographical Centre of Cambridge, England. He
is a disabled veteran from The Viet Nam War Era,
and makes his living as a career civil servant
mathematician for The Department of Defense.

xv

Muhhog: The Human Body

Ntckegannash

Dr. Frank Waabu O'Brien
Aquidneck Indian Council

Muhhog: The Human Body

Massachusett-Narragansett Revival Program

A project for the reconstruction of the extinct American Indian Languages of

Southeastern New England

Dr. Frank Waabu O'Brien
Historical Consultant

Former President, Aquidneck Indian Council, Inc.
12 Curry Avenue
Newport, RI 02840-1412

e-mail: moondancer nuwc@hotmail.com

http://www.rootsweb.com/~rigenweb/IndianPlaceNames.html

Reprinted and revised from —Strong Woman ® Moondancer. (1998). A Massachusett
Language Book, Vol. 1. Newport, RI: Aquidneck Indian Council.

This project was funded [in part] by Expansion Arts, a joint program of the Rhode
Island State Council on the Arts and the Rhode Island Foundation

Copyright © 2003 by Francis J. O'Brien, Jr., 12 Curry Avenue, Newport, RI 02840-1412, USA. All
rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise, without the written permission of the author. Printed in the United States of
America.

November , 2003

WUNNOHTEAONK

MAY PEACE BE IN YOUR HEARTS

- NOTES -

This short treatise stems from the research of the Massachusett-Narragansett
Revival Program, a project for the reconstruction of the extinct American Indian
languages of southeastern New England. Our intention is to make these works
available to a wide audience. Previous works are "The Word 'Squaw' in Historical and
Modem Sources" ( http://www.indianeduresearch.net/squaw.pdf) , "Spirits and Family
Relations" (ED 471405), "Animals & Insects, " & "Birds & Fowl".

The present paper shows translations for about 110 names for parts of the human
body taken from the extinct American Indian Algonquian languages of southeastern
New England, Narragansett, Massachusett and related dialects. Not all terms for the
large number of human body parts were recorded by the missionaries of Colonial New
England. Occasionally vocabulary words are borrowed from the North Boston-shore
Massachusett dialect when no extant terms were discovered. Reconstruction of such
words in Massachusett-Narraganset may be modeled on these terms from similar
Algonquian languages. References are given below. One important document
(Trumbulls' Natick Dictionary) is available on the Internet as a PDF document (can
view book as it is written). In addition, it has been brought to my attention recently that
many Algonquian texts are now available (as ASCII files; not as originally written) at
the following address:

http://www.people.umass.edu/aef6000/Texts/Algonquian/Algnqn.html .

The Goddard & Bragdon work is important for linguistic theory.

A brief grammar note is provided explaining the inflection and declension of
possessive nouns relating to body parts (my heart, your heart, my feet, etc.). We use a
quote from Eliot's 1666 grammar book for illustration. Textual footnotes explain the
concepts of "abstract nouns" and "reduplication" seen in these Algonquian languages.

The vocabulary listing is presented alphabetically as a table of three columns.

On the left is the English language term being translated, as translated in the middle
column (with language/dialect identified), and any useful comments on the right side
(including etymology). The main contributing language is Massachusett 1 (Eliot, Cotton
and Trumbull references) and labeled "Mass.". The abbreviation Narr. refers to the
Narragansett language as recorded by Roger Williams (1643). The abbreviation "Wm.
Wood" refers to the 275-word vocabulary compiled by William Wood in 1634. William
Wood wrote an expository work of his 17 th century experiences in the New World,
entitled New Englands Prospect, which summarized his observations among the
Massachuseuck (Massachusett Indians, "People of the Great Hills"). The character &c
means "etc." Notes in the COMMENT column are itemized by "bullets" ( • ) when
multiple Algonquian translations are listed; the order of the "bullets" in each column
correspond.

1 John Eliot translated the entire Bible into Natick dialect of the Massachusett (or Wampanoag) language.

Pronunciation of words is not attempted owing to the scanty knowledge of this
language. For technical guidelines, see Goddard & Bragdon (1988). Strong Woman 0
Moondancer (1998) provide a long guide to interpretation of vowel sounds and
consonant-vowel clusters along with the special diacritical symbols seen in the
vocabulary.

Future works will focus on topical vocabularies for other areas.

REFERENCES

Cotton, Josiah (1707, 1830). "Vocabulary of the Massachusetts (Natick) Indian
Language." Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Historical Society Collection, Serial 3, Vol. II.

Eliot, John (1666). The Indian Grammar Begun; or, an Essay to Bring The Indian Language
into Rules for the Help of Such as Desire to Learn the Same for the Furtherance of the Gospel
Among Them. Cambridge, MA: Marmaduke Johnson.

Goddard, Ives and Kathleen J. Bragdon (1988). Native Writings in Massachusett ( Parts 1
& 2). Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society.

Moondancer 0 Strong Woman. (1996, 2001). Understanding Algonquian Indian Words
(New England). Newport, RI: Aquidneck Indian Council.

Strong Woman 0 Moondancer. (1998). A Massachusett Language Book, Vol. 1 Newport,
RI: Aquidneck Indian Council.

Trumbull, James H. (1903). Natick Dictionary. Washington, DC: Bureau of American
Ethnology. f http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/ConsultationTout.exe?Q=00274741

Williams, Roger (1643). A Key into the Language of America:, or, an Help to the Language of
the Natives in that Part of America called New-England. Together, with Briefe Observations of
the Customes, Manners and Worships, etc. of the Aforesaid Natives, in Peace and Wane, in Life
and Death. On all which are added Spirituall Observations, General and Particular by the
Author of chiefe and Special use (upon all occasions) to all the English Inhabiting those parts;
yet pleasant and profitable to the view of all men. London: Gregory Dexter. [Reprinted,
Providence: Narragansett Club, 1866, J. H. Trumbull (Ed.)].

William Wood (1634). New England Prospect. A True, lively, and experimentall description
of that part of America, commonly called New England: discovering the state of that countrie,
both as it stands to our new-come English Planters; and to the old native inhabitants. Laying
down that which may both enrich the knowledge of the mind-travelling Reader, or benefit the
future Voyager. London: Tho. Cotes.

Algonquian languages are highly inflectional. The manner in which simple possessive
nouns for body parts are inflected 2 is illustrated by the following, taken from John Eliot’s 1666
grammar book for the Natick dialect of the Massachusett language:

Metah, the heart.

Sing. 1

Nuttah, my heart.
Kuttah, thy heart.
Wuttah , his heart.'

PI. i.

Nuttahhun, our heart.
Kuttahhou, your heart.
Wuttahhou,f/j<?iV heart.

John Eliot (1666). The Indian Grammar Begun; or, an Essay to Bring The Indian Language
into Rules for the Help of Such as Desire to Learn the Same for the Furtherance of the Gospel

We note that this example illustrates the forms for the human “heart”. The root word for
heart in this dialect is tah (“thing of existence”). The possessive forms are inflected by changing
the prefix and suffix elements in the manner illustrated. Thus, any inflected word is of the form
PREFIX + ROOT + SUFFIX. The occurrence of a double consonant (“t” & “h” in this
example) is common English spelling practice. Pronunciation probably blends the consonants so
that Nuttah is perhaps “nuh tah” (accent omitted). Thus, both singular (sing.) and plural (pi.) of
“I” has form n’ (where the apostrophe ’ means a reduced vowel is substituted); singular (sing.)
and plural (pi.) of “you” has form U ; and singular (sing.) and plural (pi.) of “his” has form w’
(sometimes <r or u’) . The appropriate suffix must be added to obtain pi. forms. The generic

form “The ” is usually given as nr as illustrated by Eliot: “The heart” is m’ + root = metah

(omitting diacritical marks). This standard form is not always seen (e.g. “thumb”). An example

for “foot”; the root is “seet”; thus “my foot” is “nusseet”.

The plural for body parts is based on the fact that these nouns are inanimate and
follow the pluralization declension form 3 : NOUN + ash (sometimes w or y glides and other

elements interspersed for pronunciation).

EXAMPLES:

• “feet” = musseetash = m’ + seet (root) + ash (w/ double consonant).

• “my feet” = nusseetash = n’ + seet (root) + ash (w/ double consonant).

The Vocabulary listing presents the m’ form unless otherwise noted as either non-
extant or nonstandard. The general rules provided above should be sufficient for
inflection or declension of most of the Massachusett-Narragansett body-part nouns
whereas the Wood vocabulary is more problematical but presumably conforms generally
to Massachusett-Narragansett syntax.

2 Inflection means a change in the form of a word to change meaning of word; e.g., an inflection of the
word metah ("the heart") is nuttah ("my heart") by rule given above. Roger Williams (1643, chap. VII, pp.
48-52) provides many example of inflected nouns for human body parts.

^Declension means inflected form for a noun or pronoun by animate/inanimate reference or
singular/plural reference; e.g., an inanimate form (declension) for plural nouns is given by the suffix -ash
such as: hussan ("stone", singular) and hussanash ("stones", plural).

VOCABULARY

(alphabetical)

— Body Parts —

THE

BODY

(muhhog)

A /f A /f 7~ ' A TT 1

(Narr. = Narragansett)
(oo = oo as in food)

ankle

• mussipsk (Mass.)

• suppiske (Wm. Wood)

• "where the bones touch
behind"

• appears to be root word
for "ankle bones"

arm

• mehpit (Mass.)

• napet (Wm. Wood)

• related to "round" ?

• " the (my ?) arm"

armpit

Menukque (Mass.)

"to armholes"

back

Muppuskq (Mass.)

"bare, uncovered"

backbone

dottaguck (Wm. Wood)

appears to be root word for
"backbone"

belly

• misshat (Mass.)

• wawpiske (Wm. Wood)

• related to "it is great"?

• "the belly" (root?)

blood

• musqueheonk 4 (Mass.)

• mishque (Narr.)

• neepuck (Pequot ?)

• squehincke (Wm. Wood)

• "red stuff"

• "it is red" (inanimate)

• "my blood"?

• "blood" (root?)

body

• muhhog (Mass.)

• hoc (Wm. Wood)

• "the body"

• appears to be root word
for "body"

bone

• muskon (Mass.)

• muskanai (Wm. Wood)

• from "horn" or "hide" ?

• "a bone"

bosom

poochenau 5 (Mass.)

"divided in two"

bowels

menogkus (Mass.)

"on the inside of the body"

4 Nouns ending in -onk, -onck, -uncke, -incke &c are abstract nouns (indicating a collection or classification,
state of being or action or abstract ideas <justice, love, truth, strength, red stuff &c.).

5 Words from Massachusett-Narragansett without the m' form are presumed to be the roor word or
nonstandard. As mentioned, the Wood vocabulary is more problematical but presumably conforms
generally to Massachusett-Narragansett syntax.

brain

metup (Mass.)

related to "top"

breast

• mohpanneg (Mass.)

• mapannog (Narr.)

"that divided in two"

breast, the
breastbone

nobpaw nocke (Wm. Wood)

"the (my?) breastbone"

cheek

man°°nau (Mass.)

from "he sucks" ?

chin

• mishoon (or) mish°°n (Mass.)

• ottannapeake (Wm.Wood)

• related to "canoe"
(canoe is "chin-
shaped")?

• appears to be root word
for "the chin"

ear

• mehtauog 6 (Mass.)

• tonagus (Wm. Wood)

• related to "knows,
understands"

• appears to be root word
for "the ears" (plural?)

elbow

• meesk (Mass.)

• nisquan (Wm.Wood)

•

• "the (my ?) elbow"

eye

• muskesuk (Mass.)

• skesicos (Wm.Wood)

• related to "sky, sun,
heavens"

• appears to be root word
for "the eyes" (plural?)

eyebrow

• momounog 7 (Mass.)

• mamanock (Wm. Wood)

• they move up and
down"?

•

finger or
fingertip

Muppuhkukquanitch (Mass.)

"it divides the hand" or "head
of the finger"

finger,

fingernail

• muhkos (Mass.)

• mokassuck 8 (Narr.)

• from "sharp, hooked"

•

6 Ending -og does not mean this is the plural animate form as plural form for body parts is -ash
(inanimate noun plural form).

7 The repetition of the first syllable mo is a common feature in the Algonquian Indian languages, referred
to as frequentative or reduplication (coinciding in this case with onomatopoetic). It is a way of
describing or emphasizing something that is going on repeatedly or habitually. For example, momo nchu
("he is always on the move"; "he is always moving"). Popow uttdhig ("drum") is another example-
emphasizing the repetition of the popow sound of a drum. Look for other examples of frequentative
nouns in Vocabulary.

8 Ending -suck does not mean this is the plural, as plural form for inanimate nouns is -ash. Is this an
error in Williams?

finger,

fingernail,

" the black of
the [finger]
nail"

mocossa (Wm.Wood)

" the black of the nail"

finger,

forefinger

genehuncke (Wm.Wood)

finger, little

• muttasonitch (Mass.)

• metosaunige (Wm.Wood)

• "the last of the hand"
(subordinate mood?);
"head of the hand"

• "the little finger"

finger, the
middle

naw naunidge (Wm.Wood)

" the (my ?) middle finger"

foot

• musseet (Mass.)

• seat (Wm.Wood)

• from "he does, acts";
foot is "the doer"

• appears to be root word
for "the foot"

foot, the
instep

tasseche quonuck (Wm.Wood)

" the instep"

foot, the sole
of the foot

tahaseat (Wm.Wood)

"the sole of the foot"

genitals

menisowhock (Wm.Wood)

"the genitals"

genital, male

ukkosue pompuchai (Mass.)

"his hot organ"

genitals,
testes (plural?)

wunnussuog 9 (Mass.)

"a pair"?("his testes")

hair

• meesunk (Mass.)

• meseig (Wm.Wood)

• from "he cuts off"

•

hams

siccaw quant (Wm. Wood)

"the hams" (root?)

hand

Menutcheg (Mass.)

from "takes hold of"

hand, back of
the hand

keisseanchacke (Wm. Wood)

hand, left
hand

menatche menutcheg (Mass.)

related to something about
"hunting hand"

hand, right
hand

unninuhkoe menutcheg (Mass.)

related to "hand which
carries"

head

• muppuhkuk (Mass.)

• mapaquontup 10 (Narr)

• related to "top"

• perhaps "top of head"

9 Could this be plural animate?

10 Derived form from Roger Williams (p. 43).

"the head"

• bequoquo (Wm. Wood)

• "the head"

head,

forehead

• muskodtuk (Mass.)

• mscattuck (Narr.)

related to "which is high
up"?

heart

• metah (Mass.)

• nogcus (Wm. Wood)

• "the ticker" "thing of
existence"

• "the (my?) heart"

heel

• mogquon (Mass.)

• oquan (Wm. Wood)

• related to "large" and
"round"

• appears to be root word
for "the heel"

hip

• mobpee (Mass.)

• mobpu (Mass.)

jaw

Muttompeuk (Mass.)

"mouth bone"

kidney

mutt°°unnussog (Mass.)

cf. "testes" inflected into m'
form

knee

• mukkuttuk (Mass.)

• gettoquacke (Wm. Wood)

• "what we dig on (when
we bend down)"

• "the knees"

knuckles

gettoquun (Wm. Wood)

cf. "thumb"

leg

Muhkont (Mass.)

"that which carries, bears
body"

leg, calf of the
leg

thaw (Wm. Wood)

"the calf of the leg"

limb

pompuhchai (Mass.)

root?

lip

• mussissitt°°n (Mass.)

• mattone (Wm. Wood)

• "it is close to the
mouth"

• "the lips"

liver

mushquun (Mass.)

from "red, long"

loins

Mussegan (Mass.)

from "heat"

mouth

mutton (Mass.)

related to word for "wife",
"she talks"

nail

Muhkos (Mass.)

from "sharp, hooked"

nail, the nails

cos (Wm. Wood)

root?

navel

• menwee (Mass.)

• cocam (Wm. Wood)

"the middle" ?

neck

• missitteippeg (Mass.)

• sitchipuck (Narr.)

• "joining the shoulder"

• root word

nose

• mutchon (Mass.)

• matchanne (Wm. Wood)

• related to "smell"?

• "the nose"

rib

muhpeteog (or) muhpeteag (Mass.)

"side"

shin bone

Mississikoshk (Mass.)

"big bone"?

shoulder

• mittik (or) muttugk (Mass.)

• "upper part of the back"

• mohpegk (or) muhpeg (upper part

•

of back) (Mass.)

• mattickeis (Wm. Wood)

• "the shoulders"

shoulder

tipimon ? (Mass.)

"from my shoulder"?

blade

shoulder

bisquant (Wm. Wood)

"the shoulderbones"

bones

sides, the

yaus (Wm. Wood)

"the sides"

sides

skin

• muttuhquab (Mass.)

• "that on the outside"

• notoquap (Wm. Wood)

• "the (my?) skin"

skull

muskonotip (or) mishkonontup
(Mass.)

"bone head"

stomach

mupp°°chmau (Mass.)

"thing divided in two"

stool

quenobpuuncke (Wm. Wood)

Appears to be abstract noun
with roots "long" , "sit"&
"round"

temple

Wuttahtukq (Mass.)

"on each side"

thigh

• mehquau (Mass.)

•

• apome (Narr.)

•

• nequaw (Wm. Wood)

• "the (my?) thighs"

throat

• mukquttunk (Mass.)

• "going down (swallowing

• munnaonk? (Mass.)

or motion of Adam's

• nashaonk ? (Mass.)

apple?)"

• quttuck (Narr.)

• "sticks out"?

• from "breath"?

• appears to be root word for
"the throat"

thumb

• keht°°quanitch (Mass.)

• "great finger"

• gettoquan (Wm. Wood)

(subordinate mood?)
• "the thumb" (cf.
"knuckle")

toe

• muppuhkukquaset (Mass.)

• "head of the foot"

• mettosowset (Wm. Wood)

• "the little toe"

toe, third toe

noenaset (Wm. Wood)

"the (my?) third toe

toe, great

• kehtequaset (Mass.)

• gettoquaset (Wm. Wood)

"big thing on the foot"

tongue

• meenan (Mass.)

• whenan (Wm. Wood)

• related to "he speaks"?

• "the (his?) tongue"

tooth

• meepit (Mass.)

• mepeiteis (Wm. Wood)

• from "he eats"

• "the teeth" (plural?)

veins

• mishquinash (Narr.)

• misquish (Wm. Wood)

• from "red"

• " the veins"

waist

mohoc (Wm. Wood)

Cf. "body"

womb

Oontomuk (Mass.)

from "egg", "birth" ?

wrist

Missippuskunnicheg (Mass.)

"the bone next to the hand"

wristbones

supskinge (Wm. Wood)

"the wrist bones"

About the author—

Author: Dr. Frank Waabu. Courtesy of the author at The Naval Undersea
Warfare Center, Division Newport (Newport, RI)

Frank Waabu O’Brien (Dr. Francis Joseph O’Brien, Jr.)
is an historical consultant. He has Indian Status from The
Abenaki Nation (Sokoki and St. Francis Bands). Waabu is
the former President, Aquidneck Indian Council, Inc. He
is a member of and has served as Council Secretary, The
Rhode Island Indian Council, and is currently a Tribal
Member of the Dighton Intertribal Indian Council. Waabu
graduated from Columbia University with a Ph.D. degree,
doing a dissertation on applied linguistics. Waabu is an
elected member of the New York Academy of Sciences.
He was presented the American Medal of Honor in 2004
by the American Biographical Institute. In 2005 he
accepted International Order of Merit (IOM) from the
International Biographical Centre of Cambridge, England.
He is a disabled veteran from The Viet Nam War Era, and
makes his living as a career civil servant mathematician for
The Department of Defense.

Corn & Fruits &
Berries & Trees &c

eivachimineash

wuttdhmin

Dr. Frank Waabu O'Brien
Aquidneck Indian Council

Corn & Fruits & Berries
& Trees &c

December, 2003

Massachusett-Narragansett Revival Program

A project for the reconstruction of the extinct American Indian Languages of

Southeastern New England

Dr. Frank Waabu O'Brien
Historical Consultant

Former President, Aquidneck Indian Council, Inc.
12 Curry Avenue
Newport, RI 02840-1412

e-mail: moondancer_nuwc@hotmail.com
http://www.rootsweb.com/--rigenweb/IndianPlaceNames.html

WUNNOHTEAONK

*

MAY PEACE BE IN YOUR HEARTS

Reprinted and revised from —Strong Woman ® Moondancer. (1998). A Massachusett Language Book,
Vol. 1. Newport, RI: Aquidneck Indian Council.

This project was funded [in part] by Expansion Arts, a joint program of the
Rhode Island State Council on the Arts and the Rhode Island Foundation.

Copyright © 2003 by Francis J. O'Brien, Jr., 12 Curry Avenue, Newport, RI 02840-1412, USA. All rights
reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, or transmitted, in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written
permission of the author. Printed in the United States of America.

- NOTES -

This short treatise stems from the research of the Massachusett-Narragansett
Revival Program, a project for the reconstruction of the extinct American Indian
languages of southeastern New England. Our intention is to make these works
available to a wide audience. Other related works are "The Word 'Squaw' in Historical
and Modern Sources" (http://www.indianeduresearch.net/squaw.pdf) , "Spirits and
Family Relations" (ED 471405), "Animals & Insects, " "Birds & Fowl," "Muhhog: the
Human Body, " "Fish, " & "American Indian Place Names in Rhode Island: Past &
Present" ( http://www.rootsweb.com/~rigenweb/IndianPlaceNames.html)

The present paper shows translations for about 200 names for trees, plants and
related terms taken from the extinct American Indian Algonquian languages of
southeastern New England— Narragansett, Massachusett and related dialects. Not all
species were recorded by the missionaries of Colonial New England. Occasionally
vocabulary words are borrowed from the Ojibway language (Baraga), Wampano (Iron
Thunderhorse, 2000) and a north Boston-Shore dialect (Wood) when no extant terms
were discovered or for purposes of comparison. Reconstruction of such words in
Massachusett-Narragansett may be modeled on these terms from similar Algonquian
languages. Wampano revitalization efforts seem to include adaptation of European
terms for trees not indigenous to the region.

In the Algonquian languages, living organisms are named for their outstanding
characteristics (color, sound, habit &c) such as n°°timus = "tree with leaves resembling
hands" (oak tree). We note that four words in the Vocabulary were Americanized from
the Algonquian languages (squash(es), succotash, samp, and "Johnny Cake" ).

References are given below. One important document (Trumbulls' Natick
Dictionary) is available on the Internet as a PDF document (can view book as it is
written). In addition, it has been brought to my attention recently that many
Algonquian texts are now available (as ASCII files; not as originally written) at the
following address:

http://www.people.umass.edu/aef6000/Texts/Algonquian/Algnqn.html .

The Goddard & Bragdon work is important for linguistic theory.

The vocabulary listing is presented alphabetically as a table of three columns.

On the left is the English language term being translated, as translated in the middle
column (with language/dialect identified), and any useful comments on the right side
(including etymology), along with supplemental footnotes.

The main contributing language is Massachusett 1 (Eliot, Cotton and Trumbull
references). The abbreviation Narr. refers to the Narragansett language as recorded by
Roger Williams (1643). The abbreviation "Wm. Wood" refers to the 275-word
vocabulary compiled by William Wood in 1634. William Wood wrote an expository
work of his 17 th century experiences in the New World, entitled New Englands Prospect,

1 John Eliot translated the entire Bible into Natick dialect of the Massachusett (or Wampanoag) language.

which summarized his observations among the Massachuseuck (Massachusett Indians,
"People of the Great Hills"). The character &c means "etc." Some botanical terms
thought to be unfamiliar are defined by simple lexical citations from the online
Merriam-Webster dictionary.

Notes in the COMMENT column are itemized by "bullets" ( • ) when multiple
Algonquian translations are listed; the order of the "bullets" in each column
correspond.

Pronunciation of words is not attempted owing to the scanty knowledge of this
language. For technical guidelines, see Goddard & Bragdon (1988). Strong Woman 0
Moondancer (1998) provide a long guide to interpretation of vowel sounds and
consonant-vowel clusters along with the special diacritical symbols seen in the
vocabulary.

Future works will focus on topical vocabularies for other areas.

REFERENCES 2

Aubin, George (1972). A Historical Phonology of Narragansett. Providence, RI: Brown
University. (Ph.D. Dissertation).

Baraga, Frederic (1878, 1992). A Dictionary of the Ojibway Language. St. Paul, MN:
Minnesota Historical Society.

Cotton, Josiah (1707, 1830). "Vocabulary of the Massachusetts (Natick) Indian
Language." Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Historical Society Collection, Serial 3, Vol. II.

Eliot, John (1666). The Indian Grammar Begun; or, an Essay to Bring The Indian Language
into Rules for the Help of Such as Desire to Learn the Same for the Furtherance of the Gospel
Among Them. Cambridge, MA: Marmaduke Johnson.

Goddard, Ives and Kathleen J. Bragdon (1988). Native Writings in Massachusett ( Parts 1
& 2). Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society.

Gookin, Daniel (1674, 1792). Historical Collections Of The Indians Of New England: Of
Their Several Nations, Numbers, Customs, Manners, Religion, And Government, Before The
English Planted There. New York: Reprinted Edition (1972), Arno Press.

Huden, John C. (1962) Indian Place Names of New England. New York: Museum of the
American Indian (Heye Foundation).

Iron Thunderhorse (2000). A Complete Language Guide To The Wampano/Quinnipiac R-
Dialect Of Southwestern New England. ACLI Series # 3. Milltown, IN: ACQTC/ACLI.

Moondancer ® Strong Woman. (1996, 2001). Understanding Algoncjuian Indian Words
(New England). Newport, RI: Aquidneck Indian Council.

O'Brien, Frank Waabu. (2003). "American Indian Place Names In Rhode Island: Past &
Present" ( http://www.rootsweb.com/~rigenweb/IndianPlaceNames.html)

Strong Woman ® Moondancer. (1998). A Massachusett Language Book, Vol. 1 Newport,
RI: Aquidneck Indian Council.

Note that the same person is identified by names “Moondancer,” and “Waabu”/ “O’Brien”.

Trumbull, James H. (1903). Natick Dictionary. Washington, DC: Bureau of American
Ethnology. [ http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/ConsultationTout.exe7CG00274741

Williams, Roger (1643). A Key into the Language of America:, or, an Help to the Language of
the Natives in that Part of America called New-England. Together, with Briefe Observations of
the Customes, Manners and Worships, etc. of the Aforesaid Natives, in Peace and Wane, in Life
and Death. On all which are added Spirituall Observations, General and Particular by the
Author of chiefe and Special use (upon all occasions) to all the English Inhabiting those parts;
yet pleasant and profitable to the view of all men. London: Gregory Dexter. [Reprinted,
Providence: Narragansett Club, 1866, J. H. Trumbull (Ed.)].

Wood, William (1634). New England Prospect. A True, lively, and experimentall description
of that part of America, commonly called New England : discovering the state of that countrie,
both as it stands to our new-come English Planters; and to the old native inhabitants. Laying
down that which may both enrich the knowledge of the mind-travelling Reader, or benefit the
future Voyager. London: Tho. Cotes.

VOCABULARY

(alphabetical)

— Corn & Fruits & Berries & Trees, &c —

CORN & FRUITS
& BERRIES &
TREES, &C.

ALGONQUIAN

(oo = oo as in food)

acorns (plural)

anauchemineash 3 (Narr.)

"nuts or small fruits,"; cf.
"nuts"

alder

odopi (Wampano)

apple (fruit)

meechim

from "to eat"

apple tree

applesanck 4 (Wampano)

Obvious adaptation of
English "apple"

ash tree (black)

monunks

"black wood" (basket
wood)

barberries (red berries

wuchipoquameneash (Narr.)

"separated fruits or

or prickly pears)
(plural)

berries"

bark of a tree

mehtukque wunnadteask

"wetu covering from tree"

bark, birch & chestnut

wuchickapeuck (Narr.)

Birch or chestnut bark to
cover wetu (wigwam) in
summertime (Roger
Williams, p. 32) 5

barn, food storage

mechimukkomuk

"enclosed place for food"

basswood

wigebimesanck (Wampano)

3 Plural form for most words for "corn, fruits, berries, trees, &c" is -ash, indicating "inanimate" norms.

4 -(s)anck seems to be Wampano root/stem for "tree" (wood); cf. -uck, -unk in Massachusett-Narragansett.
Another stem for "tree": -mus, -mis, -mish, -misk.

5 Trumbull (1903) cites page 48 in both sections of his dictionary, but that is incorrect as the author has verified.

beans, kidney (plural)

beans, bush bean
(plural)

bean, Indian

• tuppuhqumash

• manusqussedash (Narr.)

• kehtoheae monasquisseet

• "they roll or turn"
(perhaps common
"pole bean;i.e., kidney
bean or "Boston baked
bean")

• another type called
"Indian

beans" (perhaps "bush
bean")

• "an Indian bean"

beech tree

wadchumesanck (Wampano)

beechnut

wadchuamin (Wampano)

berry, fruit, corn, grain

• min 6 (or) minne

• minneash

• singular, "that which
is growing"

• plural (small berries,
fruit, corn)

birch (hard woods)

pemsquamku

"wood that bends, winds

(may include other

and wraps around" (bark

hardwoods like maple,
hickory, the ashes,
oaks, etc.)

for baskets, etc.)

birch or chestnut bark

wuchickapeuck (Narr.)

"the separating bark" (for
the wetu covering
outside)

blackberries (plural)

wuttohkohkoominneonash

"moist berries that make
us thirsty"?

bloodroot

nepuckadchubuk (Wampano)

blueberries

• attitaash (Narr.)

• (plural), related to

(hurtleberry)

• zata (Wampano)

"drink"

• "blueberry"

boneset 7

zazobakwhozik 8 (Wampano)

bough

pohchatuk

"it breaks, separates"

6 Look for this basic root word (also spelled "men") found in many terms for a fruit, berry, corn etc.

7 Any of several composite herbs (genus Eupatorium ); especially : a perennial (£. perfoliatum ) with opposite
perfoliate leaves and white-rayed flower heads used in folk medicine. (Merriam-Webster's Dictionary).

8 Original document (p. 72) has circumflex over last "z" vs. last “o" as presented, which appears to be a
typographical error.

branch

• wuttuck

• pauchautaqun 9 (Narr.)

• wudtuckqun (Narr.)

• " at end, outer most
parts of tree"

• "turning, separating"

• "a piece of wood"

branches of a vine
(plural)

cheouash

related to "separated"

bread

• puttuckqunnege 10 (Narr.)

• petuckqunneg

• isattonaneise (Wm. Wood)

• petuckquinneg (Wampano)

• see footnote

• "round long thing",
made from corn,
fruits, etc.

• "the bread"

• bannock n /frybread

briar, thorn

kous

"sharp thing"; cf. "pine
tree"

bull rush

wekinash (Wampano)

cf. "reeds"

bush

nepeunk

buttercup

wizowibemi pasakwasawoh
(Wampano)

cedar tree

• utchukkuppemis

• mishquawtuck 12 (Narr.)

• "small separating
bark"

• red cedar

cherry tree

qussuckomineanug (Narr.)

"tree with stones in fruit"

chestnut tree

• wompumus

• wompimish (Narr.)

"white nut-tree"

chestnuts (plural)

wompimineash (Narr.)

"white nuts"

chickory

minoboatag (Wampano)

chokecherry

pesorramin (Wampano)

colt's foot

pooke (Wm. Wood)

"colt's foot" 13

9 A number of more or less corrupted Rhode Island place names are based on this root for "turn, braching" such
as Pocasset, Pauchaug, etc.; see the author's website at the address:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~rigenweb/IndianPlaceNames.html.

10 Puttuki = "(it is) round". Qunni = "(it is) long, extended". Final -ge means "the thing that"; thus,
puttuckqunnege = "round-long-thing that is ", applied to cakes, breads, etc.

11 a : A usually unleavened flat bread or biscuit made with oatmeal or barley meal; b chiefly New England :
CORN BREAD; especially : a thin cake baked on a griddle (Merriam-Webster's Dictionary).

12 "The red tree" — very sacred tree; it's classification is "animate"— only cedar and pine/fir trees and maple
trees are "animate"in this subclass of natural world objects. Narr. plural for "cedar tree" is perhaps
mishquawtuckqudog.

13 Any of various plants with large rounded leaves resembling the foot of a colt; especially : a perennial
composite herb (Tussilago farfara) with yellow flower heads appearing before the leaves; used medicinally.
(Merriam-Webster's Dictionary).

corn

•

weatchimmineash= corn in general

weatchimmineash =

(plural)

"food growing in the field

•

eat chumnis (Wm. Wood) = "Indian
corn"

we eat"

•

sowhawmen (Wampano) = corn

Corn was of many colors:

•

Ewachimineash (Narr.) = corn

white, black, red, yellow.

(plural)

blue and spotted. Four

•

munnequinn = green corn (still

kernels (for 4 directions)

growing; stalks tasted like sugar cane)

planted in each hill. Corn

•

munnequaminneash = green ears

grown with squash and

of corn (plural)

beans ("3 sisters plants")

•

missunkquaminnemeash = dried

corn (plural)

•

app°°suash weatchimmineash

= roasted corn (plural)

•

n°°hkik = parched corn
("Journey Cake", "Johnny
Cake")

o nokehick (Narr.) =

"parched meal"; a common
traveling staple mixed with
water, akin to corn soup

•

nasaump 14 (Narr.) = unparched
"meale pottage"

•

aupumineanaqaump = parched corn

•

sappaen = boiled soft in water

•

m’sickquatash 15 = boiled whole corn
(plural)

•

m’ sohquttahhash = shelled boiled corn
(plural)

•

scannemeneash (Narr.) = corn seed
(plural)

•

mussohquamin = ear of ripened corn

•

wuskokkamuckomeneash 16

(Narr.) = corn from a newly
planted ground (plural)

•

waweekanash (Narr.) = sweet

corn (plural)

14 In American English, "Samp" is derived from this Narragansett word, and defined as "coarse hominy or a
boiled cereal made from it"; hominy is "kernels of com that have been soaked in a caustic solution (as of lye)
and then washed to remove the hulls" (Merriam-Webster's Dictionary).

15 We get “succotash” from this word.

16 "New ground com"

corn planter (awl)

mukqs

cranberry

sasemin

"sour-like fruit";
discovered by English as
useful to "conserve
against Feaver" (Roger
Williams, p. 97)

cucumber (English
import)

• moonosketetamuk

• askitameg

• "smooth raw thing in
the ground"

• "Indian cucumber"

currant berries (plural)

sautaash (Narr.)

related to "sour"?
Sautauthig is the delicacy
dish made from Sautaash

earth (see "land")

elder bush 17

saskib (Wampano)

elderberry

saskibimin (Wampano)

fern

masozi (Wampano)

field, soil

ohteuk

related to "to plant" (see
"plant")

figs

waweecocks (Narr.)

"sweet things"?

fir trees or tall trees
(plural)

qunonuhquaog 18

"tall trees"

fire-wood (plural)

mishash

flax [thread-like fibers]

masaunock (Narr.)

flower

uppeshau

"it shoots up"

flowers (plural)

peshaonash

fruit (of tree)

mehtukque mechummuoonk 19

"tree food"

fruit or vegetable

meechummuonk

"food [fruits &
vegetables] in general'"
from "eats" + -onk

garden

tanohketeaonk

"place (field) where
things grow in the earth"

ginger (snakeroot 20 )

skokadchubuk (Wampano)

ginsing

gassowadik (Wampano)

gooseberry

hakenamin (Wampano)

17 Extended discussion of this plant and berries may be found at Internet website
http://www.botanical.eom/botanical/mgmh/e/elder-04.html

18 Plural ending -og identifies this noun as "animate noun" as explained in footnote for "cedar tree".

19 Nouns ending in -onk are abstract nouns (indicating a collection or classification, state of being or action or
abstract ideas cjustice, love, truth, strength, foods &c.). Try to locate other "abstract norms."

20 Any of numerous plants (as seneca snakeroot) most of which have roots sometimes believed to cure
snakebites; also : tire root of such a plant (Merriam-Webster's Dictionary). Wm Wood (1634) describes
snakeroot as an Indian cure against rattlesnake bites in the woods of southeastern New England.

gourd

grapes (plural)

grass or straw or hay
(see "herb") (plural)

grass, tender

um, sap of tree

hardwoods (maple,
hickory, some ashes,
oaks, etc.)

harvest time

hawthorn

(thornapple 23 )

hazelnut

hemlock

hemp 24 , wild

herb or medicine

hickory nut

hoe or scrapper

hurtleberries 26 (see
blueberries)

Indian tobacco (see
"tobacco")

wenominneash (Narr.)

• mosketuash

• maskituash (Narr.)

woskoshkehtuash

azoi (or) koa

see "birch"

nunnowwa 22 (Narr.)

chigenaz (Wampano)

bagoniz (Wampano)

sagaskodak (Wampano)

mazon (Wampano)

mosketu

wusquatamin (Wampano)

anaskhig 25 (Narr.)

"raw"; see footnote for
"squashes"

"grows on vines"; source
of wine for English 21

From "new, young" +
"grass"

from "raw", "green,"
"growing"

Anaskhomwautowwin :
"a breaking up hoe"

chichiz (Wampano)

21 As most people know by now, Indians did not use alcohol before the coming of the Europeans:

Their drink was formerly no other than water, and yet it doth continue, for their general and common drink.
Many of the Indians are lovers of strong drink [alcohol] .... Hereby they are made drunk very often; and being
drunk, are many times outrageous & mad, fighting with and killing one another; yea sometimes their own
relatives. This beastly sin of drunkenness could not be charged upon the Indians before the English and other
Christians nations ... came to dwell in America. (Gookin, p. 11)

22 "The com dries, grows dry".

23 a : JIMSONWEED; also : any plant of the same genus b : the fruit of a hawthorn; also : HAWTHORN
(Merriam-Webster's Dictionary).

24 Related is Narr. word for "flax"= Ashappock (glossed as "hemp" in Roger Williams)

25 "Thing that digs".

26 Etymology: alteration of earlier hurtleberry, from Middle English hurtilberye, irregular from Old English horte
whortleberry + Middle English berye beny Date: 1578. 1 : a European blueberry ( Vaccinium myrtillus ); also : its
glaucous blackish edible berry. (Merriam-Webster's Dictionary).

27 An American spring-flowering woodland herb ( Arisaema triphyllum syn. A. atrorubens) of the arum family
having an upright club-shaped spadix arched over by a green and purple spathe. (Merriam-Webster's
Dictionary).

jerusalem artichoke
(related to sunflower)

? (searching)

land, earth

• ohke

• auke (Narr.)

• sanaukamuck 28 (Narr).

• wuskaukamuck = "new ground (for
planting)"

• aquegunnitteash = "fields worn
out"

from words for "mother"
and "land"

Related Narr. terms are
nittauke = "My land" &
nissawnawkamuck 29

leaf of a tree

wunnepog

related to "beautiful",
"liquid," "stands erect"

leaves, violet

peshauiuash (Narr.)

log

quttow

from "heavy", "weight"

maple tree, syrup

• msquayobsaanck (Wampano)= one
tree

• ninatik (Ojibway) = one tree

• ninatikog (Ojibway) = many trees

• zeewagmide (Ojibway) = maple
syrup

Plural is animate form
even in Ojibway; see
footnote for "red cedar"

meadow

• wompashkeht

• micuckaskeete (Narr.)

• tataggoskituash (Narr.)

• related to
"bright light" and
"growing"

• related to
"green, raw, natural"

• "a fresh
meadow"

melon

monasak°°tasq

see "cucumber"

mortar or place for
pounding

• togguhwhonk 30

• tackunck (Narr.)

Imitative sound of
pounding— tah-kunk, tah-
kunk ; from "he grinds" +
"wood"

mullein 31

mamatchwuttamagon (Wampano)

muskmelon (English
import)

quinosketamuk

"long raw thing in the
ground"

nettle leaf

mazonibag (Wampano)

nutmeg

ramiskad (Wampano)

28 Tliis word refers to land enclosed & cultivated (a garden or field). The ending -kamuck (- komuck ) means an
enclosed space or a structure like a Long House (qunnekamuck) .

29 This word refers to land enclosed & cultivated (my garden or field) and has stem ending -kamuck as explained
above.

30 Probably not "abstract noun" as -onk is perhaps variant stem for "wood".

31 Any of a genus ( Verbascum ) of usually woolly-leaved Eurasian herbs of the snapdragon family including
some that are naturalized in No. America. (Merriam-Webster's Dictionary).

nuts (plural)

annachiminash

"shell fruits", including
one called "potato"

oak tree

n°°timus

"tree with leaves
resembling hands'

oakwood, yellow

wesokkunk

"yellow tree'

onions, wild (plural)

weenwasog

appears to be "animate
noun" (exception to rule)

orchard

• ahtuck

• mehtukque

• place of trees

• of a tree

peach tree

peachsanck (Wampano)

English loan word
"peach" is evident

pear (see barberries)

pecan

pine tree

• kowash'tugk

• k°°wa

• cowaw

■32

• kowawese (Narr.)

• cowawesuck (Narr.)

"tree with sharp
things"

"sharp, point"

• young pine tree,
"sharp," "small"

• young pine trees

plain (noun)

mukkoshqut

'great grassy place'

plant (noun)

• ahketeamuk

• neahketeamu

ohkehteau

• "of a thing in the
field"

• "a good plant"

• "a thing in the earth"

plantain

maykituash (Wampano)

planting time

aukeeteaumitch 33

plum tree

plumsanck (Wampano)

Obvious adaptation of
English "plum"

poplar tree (tulip tree)

meetwe

'wetu wood"?

pounding pestle (for
corn, nuts)

quinashin (Narr.)

'long stone'

puffball 34

bigidoan (Wampano)

32 Word is based on root kons (having a sharp point). The name of the tribal group Cowesit is based on this
root ("At the place of the small pine"). In English "pine" was once "pin" (as in "sharp pin").

33 "When he plants (puts into earth)".

34 Any of various globose and often edible fungi (especially family Lycoperdaceae) that discharge ripe spores in
a smokelike cloud when pressed or struck (Merriam- Webster's Dictionary).

pumpkin (see
"squashes &
pumpkins")

wasawa (Wampano)

raspberry

zegweskimin (Wampano)

red dogwood tree

squayawasanck (Wampano)

red earth

mishquock (Narr.)

"red earth"

red oak tree (should be
yellow?)

wesattimis

reeds

• wekinash 35 (Narr.)

• wekinashquash 36

• singular

• plural form in
Massachusett

rhubarb

maskituash (Wampano)

Appears as same term for
"herb" in Massachusett

rice, wild

menomen (Wampano)

root, tree

wutchappehk (or) wottapp (or)
wuttapp (or) wattap (Narr.)

"the bottom"

rose or lily

kossepeshau

"warm flower"? (not
indigenous)

sarsaparilla 37

sasoksek (Wampano)

sassafras tree

sasaunckpamuck (Narr.)

related to "bitter, tree"?

skunkcabbage

shegogwibag (Wampano)

spruce

m'skask (Wampano)

squash seeds ?

uppakumineash (Narr.)

squashes & pumpkins
(plural)

askutasquash 38 (Narr.)

"raw plant that can be
eaten"; called "vine
apple" by Roger Wiliams

straw, hay (plural)

seekpoghonkash

strawberries (plural)

wuttahminneash 39 (Narr.)

Source of wine for English

strawberry leaves
(plural)

wuttahminaspippaguash

35 Root is "sweet". One of the few words that has a plural ending for a singular noun!

36 Possibly used for "sweetgrass". Sweetgrass is a winter-hardy, sweet smelling, perennial grass that grows in
rich, moist soil. It can be found in North America from Alaska to South Carolina. Sweetgrass requires full sun.

37 Used primarily as a flavoring; also, a sweetened carbonated beverage flavored with sassafras and oil distilled
from a European birch (Merriam-Webster's Dictionary).

38 "Things green or raw that may be eaten". The English word "squash" is derived from this Narragansetttt.
The English took the part "squash" (which they did not realize was already plural! ) and added "es" to make the
new word "squashes". Other Massachusett words that may be of interest are: askootasquash ("cucumbers", an
English import) and quonooasquash ("gourds") and monaskootas quash ("melons"). All have the root -ask or -asq
meaning "green, raw, natural". The word asquash was used in general to mean "edible things green and raw".

39 Literally, “Heart-shaped berries”, a true delicacy for which is celebrated “Strawbeiry Nickommo” in modern times and
probably in ancient times as well.

sunflower

kezouskuganak (Wampano)

sweetflag 40

muskwaskuk (Wampano)

tobacco (Indian
tobacco)

(nicotiana rustica)
(plural)

• wuttamauog

• ottommaocke (Wm. Wood)

• "what they drink (i.e.,
smoke)". Indian
tobacco (not cigarette
tobacco) was the most
sacred plant and only
plant grown by men; it
was mixed with herbs
and had very little
nicotine in it, and did
no harm.

• "tobacco"

tree (see individual
names for trees)

• mehtugq= a tree, the tree

• mehtugquash = trees

• mehtugques= a small tree

• mehtugquemes= a very small tree

• mogkunk = a great tree

• massatugk = a large tree

• askunhq = a green tree (sapling)

• muss°°ounk = a dry tree

• agwonk= under a tree

• ut kishkunk = near, beside the tree

• qunnuhquitugk = a tall tree

• mishuntugk 41 = well-wooded (of a
forest)

• mu ht°° kernes = a stick ("little
wood")

• wequanunkq = tree stump 42

• kenuhtugq = "long wooden (sharp)
crooked stick"

h'tugq = "tree" (the
root word may come from
the sound made when a
tree is struck by a club or
ax or arrow, maybe. )
Trees are very sacred;
they span three worlds at
once —sky, earth & under
world; crystals found
under some trees

tulip tree (see "poplar")

vine apples (see
"squashes")

vine trees (plural)

wenomesippaquash (Narr.)

related to "grape"

walnut

wusswaquatomineug (Narr.)

40 A perennial marsh herb (Acorns calamus) of the arum family with long narrow leaves and an aromatic
rootstock — called also calamus (Merriam-Webster's Dictionary).

41 This word appears as a place name in Providence, RI; Mashentuck = “Many trees; well forested place” (see
http://www.rootsweb.com/~rigenweb/IndianPlaceNames.html).

42 Also means’ “wooden mortar for corn-grinding”.

walnut tree

walnuts (plural)

waterlily root
watermelon (Colonial
times)

white oak tree
willow tree

wintergreen

witchhazel

wood (see "branch" &

"tree")

woods (forest)

• wuss°°hquattomis

• wussoquat (Narr.)

wussoohquattomineash

meskatak (Wampanao)
ohhosketamuk

• pohkuhtimus

• paugautimisk (Narr.)

• anumwussukuppe

• anumwussikkup

gogowibagok (Wampano)
siokesanck (Wampano)

from "to anoint with oils",
a practice done on their
heads; the English used
the bark to make beer
"fruit we get oils from".
The meat crushed and
mixed with water and
corn was mother's milk.

"raw green thing"

related to "separating
bark", for baskets
related to "making
baskets"?

About the author—

Author : Dr. Frank Waabu. Courtesy of the author at The Naval Undersea
Warfare Center, Division Newport (Newport, RI)

Frank Waabu O’Brien (Dr. Francis Joseph O'Brien, Jr.)
is an historical consultant. He has Indian Status from The
Abenaki Nation (Sokoki and St. Francis Bands). Waabu is
the former President, Aquidneck Indian Council, Inc. He
is a member of and has served as Council Secretary, The
Rhode Island Indian Council, and is currently a Tribal
Member of the Dighton Intertribal Indian Council. Waabu
graduated from Columbia University with a Ph.D. degree,
doing a dissertation on applied linguistics. Waabu is an
elected member of the New York Academy of Sciences.
He was presented the American Medal of Honor in 2004
by the American Biographical Institute. In 2005 he
accepted International Order of Merit (IOM) from the
International Biographical Centre of Cambridge, England.
He is a disabled veteran from The Viet Nam War Era, and
makes his living as a career civil servant mathematician for
The Department of Defense.

The Heavens, Weather,
Winds, Time &c

Papone <> Cone

Dr. Frank Waabu O'Brien

Aquidneck Indian Council

The Heavens, Weather, Winds, Time &c

Massachusett-Narragansett Revival Program

A project for the reconstruction of the extinct American Indian Languages of

Southeastern New England

Dr. Frank Waabu O'Brien
Historical Consultant

Former President, Aquidneck Indian Council, Inc.
12 Curry Avenue
Newport, RI 02840-1412

e-mail: moondancer_nuwc@hotmail.com

http://www.rootsweb.com/~rigenweb/IndianPlaceNames.htnil

Reprinted and revised from —Strong Woman ® Moondancer. (1998). A
Massachusett Language Book, Vol. 1. Newport, RI: Aquidneck Indian Council.

This project was funded [in part] by Expansion Arts, a joint program of the Rhode
Island State Council on the Arts and the Rhode Island Foundation

Copyright © 2004 by Francis J. O'Brien, Jr., 12 Curry Avenue, Newport, RI 02840-1412, USA.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the author. Printed in the United
States of America.

December, 2004

WUNNOHTEAONK

MAY PEACE BE IN YOUR HEARTS

2

- NOTES -

This short treatise stems from the research of the Massachusett-Narragansett
Revival Program, a project for the reconstruction of the extinct American Indian
languages of southeastern New England. Our intention is to make these works
available to a wide audience. Other related works are "The Word 'Squaw' in
Historical and Modern Sources" ( http://www.indianeduresearch.net/squaw.pdf ), "Spirits
and Family Relations 1 " (ED 471405, http:/ / www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/Home.portal ),
"Animals & Insects, " "Birds & Fowl," "Muhhog: the Human Body, " "American
Indian Place Names in Rhode Island: Past & Present"

( http://www.rootsweb.com/~rigenweb/IndianPlaceNames.html ), "Fish" & "Corn & Fruits &
Berries & Trees &c".

The present paper shows translations for about 250 names for weather,
heavenly bodies, time and related terms taken from the extinct American Indian
Algonquian languages of southeastern New England, Narragansett, Massachusett.
Occasionally vocabulary words are borrowed from Mohegan-Pequot (Prince &

Speck, 1904) and a north Boston- Shore dialect (Pawtucket, William Wood, 1634)
when no extant terms were discovered or for purposes of comparison.

References are given below. One important document (Trumbull's Natick
Dictionary) is available on the Internet as a PDF document (can view book as it is
written). In addition, it has been brought to my attention recently that many
Algonquian texts are now available (as ASCII files; not as originally written) at the
following address:

http://www.people.umass.edu/aef6000/Texts/Algonquian/Algnqn.html .

The Goddard & Bragdon work is important for linguistic theory.

The vocabulary listing is presented alphabetically as a table of three columns.
On the left is the English language term being translated, as translated in the middle
column (with language/dialect identified), and any useful comments on the right side
(including etymology). The main contributing language is Massachusett 2 (Eliot,
Cotton and Trumbull references). "Reconstructed" refers to my own creation. The
abbreviation Narr. refers to the Narragansett language as recorded by Roger
Williams (1643). The author is responsible for the spelling rearrangements for some
material in A Key. "Pequot" is a reference to the glossary of Prince and Speck
(1904), which includes the Ezra Stiles 1762 vocabulary. The abbreviation "Wm.
Wood" refers to the 275-word vocabulary compiled by William Wood in 1634.
William Wood wrote an expository work of his 17 th century experiences in the New
World, entitled New Englands Prospect, which summarized his observations among

1 Errata sheet not included; write to author

2 John Eliot translated the entire Bible into Natick dialect of the Massachusett (or Wampanoag) language.

3

the Massachuseuck (Massachusett Indians, "People of the Great Hills"). The character
&c means "etc." Notes in the COMMENT column are itemized by "bullets" (•)
when multiple Algonquian translations are listed; the order of the "bullets" in each
column correspond.

Pronunciation of words is not attempted owing to the scanty knowledge of
this language. For technical guidelines, see Goddard & Bragdon (1988). Strong
Woman 0 Moondancer (1998) provide a long guide to interpretation of vowel
sounds and consonant-vowel clusters along with the special diacritical symbols seen
in the vocabulary.

Future works will focus on topical vocabularies for other areas.

4

REFERENCES

Aubin, George (1972). A Historical Phonology of Narragansett. Providence, RI: Brown
University. (Ph.D. Dissertation).

Bragdon, Kathleen J. (1996). Native People of Southern New England, 1500-1650.
Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press.

Cotton, Josiah (1707, 1830). "Vocabulary of the Massachusetts (Natick) Indian
Language." Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Historical Society Collection, Serial 3, Vol.
II.

Eliot, John (1666). The Indian Grammar Begun; or, an Essay to Bring Tlie Indian Language
into Rules for the Help of Such as Desire to Learn the Same for the Furtherance of the Gospel
Among Them. Cambridge, MA: Marmaduke Johnson.

Goddard, Ives and Kathleen J. Bragdon (1988). Native Writings in Massachusett ( Parts
1 & 2). Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society.

Huden, John C. (1962) Indian Place Names of New England. New York: Museum of the
American Indian (Heye Foundation).

Mayhew, Experience (1722, 1855). "Letter of Exp. Mayhew, 1722, on the Indian
Language". New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. 39, pp. 10-17.

Moondancer 3 0 Strong Woman. (1996, 2001). Understanding Algonquian Indian Words
(New England). Newport, RI: Aquidneck Indian Council.

Moondancer 0 Strong Woman. (1999). Wampanoag Cultural History: Voices from Past
and Present (First Edition). Newport, RI: Aquidneck Indian Council.

Moondancer 0 Strong Woman (2000). Indian Grammar Dictionary for N-Dialect: A
Study of A Key into the Language of America by Roger Williams, 1643. Newport, RI:
Aquidneck Indian Council.

3 Moondancer and O'Brien are the same person.

Moondancer 0 Strong Woman (2001). Introduction to the Narr agansett Language: A
Study of Roger Williams' A Key into the Language of America . Newport, RI:
Aquidneck Indian Council.

O'Brien, Frank Waabu. (2003). "American Indian Place Names In Rhode Island: Past
& Present" ( http ://www .roots web .com/~rigenweb/IndianPlaceN ames .html) .

Prince, J. Dyneley and Frank G. Speck (1904). "Glossary of the Mohegan-Pequot
Language". American Anthropologist, N.S., Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 18-45

Strong Woman 0 Moondancer. (1998). A Massachusett Language Book, Vol. 1.
Newport, RI: Aquidneck Indian Council.

Trumbull, James H. (1875). "On Numerals In Indian Languages And The Indian
Mode Of Counting." American Philological Association. Hartford, Conn. : [s.n.].

Trumbull, James H. (1903). Natick Dictionary. Washington, DC: Bureau of American
Ethnology. r http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/ConsultationTout.exe?O=0Q27474]

Williams, Roger (1643). A Key into the Language of America:, or, an Help to the Language
of the Natives in that Part of America called New-England. Together, with Briefe
Observations of the Customes, Manners and Worships, etc. of the Aforesaid Natives, in Peace
and Wane, in Life and Death. On all which are added Spirituall Observations, General and
Particular by the Author of chiefe and Special use (upon all occasions) to all the English
Inhabiting those parts; yet pleasant and profitable to the view of all men. London: Gregory
Dexter. [Reprinted, Providence: Narragansett Club, 1866, J. H. Trumbull (Ed.)].

William Wood (1634). New England Prospect. A True, lively, and experimentall
description of that part of America, commonly called New England: discovering the state of
that countrie, both as it stands to our new-come English Planters; and to the old native
inhabitants. Laying down that which may both enrich the knowledge of the mind-travelling
Reader, or benefit the future Voyager. London: Tho. Cotes.

6

VOCABULARY

(alphabetical)

— The Heavens, Weather, Winds, Time &c —

We know very little about the accomplishments of our ancestors in mathematics,
astronomy, meteorology, botany, pharmacology &c. Like other First Indigenous
Peoples of America, the Wampanoag & other Algonquian-speaking peoples of our
region must have been keen observers of the Laws of Nature for their very survival
depended on being able to read the stars, the winds, clouds, the leafs, and ah of the
Great Spirit’s Signs and Omens.... Wampanoag Cultural Histone..., p. 31.

The Heavens, Weather,
Winds, Time &c

Algonquian
(oo = oo as in food)

Comment

air, atmosphere

mamahche 4 kesuk

"empty or void sky"

autumn. Fall (see "Fall")

cloud

• mahtohqs

• mattaqus (Narr).

• wompatokqs

• moowatokqs

• musquatokqs

• cloud, "moisture, wet"

• cloud, "moisture, wet"

• white cloud

• black cloud
(reconstructed)

• red cloud
(reconstructed)

cold (see "weather")

constellation 5 , Great Bear
Constellation

mosk or paukunawwaw 6
(Narr.)

4 Repetition or duplication of first syllable ma augments or intensifies meaning of mahche ("empty"); cf.
"earthquake," "rain, a rain shower," "Spring, this Spring last," or "night, midnight". See footnote for
"weather, cold, it is cold".

5 Constellations are any of 88 arbitrary configurations of stars or an area of the celestial sphere covering
one of these configurations or "figures" or shapes formed by the positions of the stars in the night sky.
One can "connect-the-dots" to make pictures of people, animals, and objects and possibly come up
with the same shapes and names that have been associated with some constellations for hundreds of
years. The Internet contains many "tutorials" on constellations. Some names given by Roger
Williams such as Golden Metewand ("yardstick") no long exist.

6 Both words mean "a bear". Mosk may be the black bear (female?). Paukunawwaw means "night or
darkness walker"; (cf. "dark" , "night").

7

constellation, the Brood-hen
Constellation [Pleiades]

chippapuock (Narr.)

from "they are separate"

constellation, the Golden
Metewand Constellation
[Belt of Orion],

shwishcuttowwauog 7 (Narr.)

-og indicates word is
"animate" plural as are other
items in this subclass of
natural objects

constellation, the Morning
Star Constellation

mishannock (Narr.)

"great (large) star"

dark, it is dark

paukunnum (Narr.)

day, 1 day

• nquittaqunnegat 8 (Narr.)

• sawup (Wm. Wood)

• "first day"

• "1 sleepes"

❖ "The Indians count

their time by nights, and
not by dayes ...” (Wm.
Wood)

day, 2 days

• neesqunnegat (Narr.)

• isoqunnocquock (Wm.
Wood)

• nees= 2; cf. "month, 2
months"

• "2 sleepes"

day, 3 days

• shuckqunockat (Narr.)

• sucqunnocquocke (Wm.
Wood)

• shwe = 3?; cf. "month, 3
months"

• "3 sleepes"

day, 4 days

• yowunnockat (Narr.)

• yoawqunnocquock
(Wm. Wood)

• should read
yowqunnockat ?

• "4 sleepes"

day, 10 days

• piuckaqunnegat (Narr.)

• pawquo qunnocquock
(Wm. Wood)

•

• "10 sleepes"

day, 11 days

piuckaqunnegat nab naquit 9
(Narr.)

"ten days plus one"

day, 12 days

piuckaqunnegat nab neeze
(Narr.)

day, 20 days

neesneechek tashuck
qunnockat (Narr.)

tashuck means "so many"
relative to measurement
(animate plural form)

7 Literally "wetu (wigwam) with three fires".

8 Literally, "in one day" ( qunne = "duration, length"); the prefixed terms are ordinal numbers (first,
second,...); -at seems to be a locative indicating "at, of, in," &c.

9 Some Narr. entries have been rewritten to highlight word structure.

8

day, 21 days &c.

neesneechek tashuck
qunnockat nab naquit 10 (Narr.)

all one phrase; "20 + 1"

day 11 (see "morning")

wompan (Narr.)

womp- is a root for "white,
dawn"; -an seems to be a root
for "going beyond, exceeding"

day, a clear day

weitagcone (Wm. Wood)

" a clear day" 12

day, a cloudy day

goopkwod (Pequot)

-kwod = "day" analogous to
-kod, -quot, -quat &c in
Massachusett & Narragansett;
cf. "weather, overcast"

day, a day

kesukod

kesukodash= "days"

day, a long day

quawquonikeesakat (Narr.) 13

"[it is ] a long day"

❖ quawquonikeesaqutche

as 14 (Narr.) = "long days"

day, a quarter of an hour

yauwe chippag hour

"a quarter of an hour" ["hour"
is English]

day, a short day

tiaquockaskeesakat 15 (N arr . )

"[it is ] a short day"

day, all the day long

mamusse quinne kesukod

"the whole long day"

day, break of day

pcotouwasha

passive voice?

day, by day

keesqush (Narr.)

day, daybreak

• kitompanisha 16 (Narr.)

• pouckshaa (Wm. Wood)

• passive voice?

• "it is broken"

day, daybreak, about cock-
crowing time 17

chouoeatch 18 (Narr.)

English roosters ?

10 If form is correct, we hypothesize that "30 days" is written shwincheck tashuck qunnockat; adding nab
neeze gives "31" &c.

11 See footnotes for "heavens" and "time". Cotton vocabulary (see p. 15 "Time") provides names for 7
days of the week.

12 Literal translations are cited for Wood's vocabulary.

13 Sun stays up longer. In this word and for the next entry, we note reduplication ( quawquo -) , "long,
long."

13 Passive Voice with reference to "freeing, breaking".

14 -as is the plural in this word whereas plural marker -ash is normal for "inanimate nouns".

15 Sun goes down early. An n or nn probably should be included to read tiaqunnockaskeesakat.

16 Passive Voice with reference to "freeing, breaking".

17 Just before sunrise.

18 Suffix -atch indicates "when it is, when it has" (indefinite subjunctive form); other written forms
seen are -etch, -itch, -otch, -utch.

9

day, daybreak, it is break of
day

• mautaubon or

• chichauquat wompan

• "it is day (morning)" or

• "it is day-break (day-
light)"

day, daytime

kesukkattae ahquompi 19

"it is the time of day (of the
sun)"

day, it is almost day

quequas nim (Wm. Wood)

" it is almost day"

day, it is broad day

aumpatauban (Narr.)

day, it is day

keesuckquai (Narr.)

day. Lord's day

sontimooe kesukod

day, market day

oattehchae ukkesukodum

day, next day

nesqunnoh

day, one days walk

nquittakeesiquockat 20 &

nquittakeespummishen 21

(Narr.)

"[it is ] one day's walk";
root -pum- means "along in
space or time"

day, our days

nukkesukodtumunnonash

day, two days hence (or
ago)

nesukquinogkod

day, three days hence (or
ago)

nishikqunnohquod

"(or ago)" is presumed

day, four days hence

yauukqunnohquod

day, seven days hence (or
ago)

nesasuk tashikqunnohquod

"(or ago)" is presumed

day, week, or one part of a
month

nequt chippi pasuk keessoocht

day, yesterday

• wawnauco (Wm. Wood)

• wunnnonkou

• wunnonkon

• weyongoo (Pequot)

• "yesterday"

• "[it was] last evening"

• "last evening"

• "yesterday"

day, yesterday (day before)

neesukquinogkod

19 Translated as "time (a time), a period, a season".

20 "Of one sun's length". Length of time always includes the root "long" (qunne). Note: it appears that
this entry is misspelled for n or nn should most likely appear after the second u to read
nquittakeesiqunnockat

21 "Of one sun's walk". Of interest is the distance Colonial era Indians could travel on foot. Roger
Williams (Ch. XI) relates that a good runner could cover about 100 miles in one day, and return in two
(after a good rest, we presume).

10

dew

* nechippog

• neechipog (Narr.)

"broken rain"; -og indicates
animate plural form

directions

• nannummiyeu = north

• wompaniyeu = east

• sowwaniyeu = south

• sowwaniu (Narr.) =
southwest 22

• pahtatunniyeu = west

-iyeu, -iu is a "particle"
(uninflected root) indicating
directions (cf. comment for
"earth," "heavens (sky)"))

drizzle, mist (see "rain,
drizzle,....")

earth, land

auke (Narr.)

aukeeaseiu = "towards the
earth"

earthquake

quequan

"shake! shake!"; shows
example of frequentative form
(see footnote for "weather, it is
cold")

evening

• wunnauquit 23 (Narr.)

• wunnonkcoonk 24

• evening (when it is)

•

Fall

'ninnauaet

see "seasons"

fall of leaf & Autumn

taquonck (Narr.)

see "seasons"

flood

tamoccon

• nanashowetamoccon 25
(Narr.) = "half a flood"

• taumacoks (Narr.) =
"upon the flood"

• mishittommockon
(Narr.) = "a great flood"

fog (see "rain, drizzle, ...")

frost, a

• taquattin (Narr.)

• topu (Narr.)

• taquatsha (Narr.)

• a frost

• "it is frost"

• "it is frozen"; auke

tequatsha = "frozen
ground"

frost, a great frost

missittopu (Narr.)

"it is a great frost"

22 The most sacred direction where lives Kautdntowwit, The Great Spirit.

23 -it = "when it is, at, in".

24 Nouns ending in -onk are abstract nouns (indicating a collection or classification, state of being or
action or abstract ideas <justice, love, truth, strength, foods &c.>). Try to locate other "abstract nouns."

25 "Between" (intensified), "with", "flood".

11

hail (noun)

• missegkon

• mussekon

"big rain (snow)"

harvest, this harvest last

yo taquonticup 26 (Narr.)

heavenly body (sun, moon,
star ?)

munnannock 27 (Narr.)

"a name of the sun or moon"

heavens (sky)

keesuck 28 (Narr.)

❖ keesucquiu (Narr.)=
"towards the sky";

❖ kessuckquand 29 (Narr.)=
"Sun Spirit"

❖ annogssue kesuk = "the
starry heavens"

hot, warm (see "weather,
hot")

kesu

"it is hot"

ice

• capat 30 (Narr.)

• kuppat

"hard", "blocked up"

ice, slippery ice

toonukquesue kuppat

light, it is light

wequai (Narr.)

of the moon (Roger Williams,
p. 64)

lightening

cutshausha 31 (Narr.)

passive voice

mist (see "rain, drizzle,....")

month, a

nepauz

cf. "sun"

month, 1 month ("one
moon") 32

• nquitpawsuck nepauus 33
(Narr.)

• a quit-appause (Wm.
Wood)

• see footnote for "sun"

• "1 moneths"

26 Ending -up or -ip for verbs means simple past tense.

27 Roger Williams uses word to mean also "moon " & "sun". Root is "alone, by self".

28 This word means either (a) visible heavens, the sky (b) the sun, “source of heat and light” or (c) space of one
day — "one sun". The last k in keesuck is pronounced with a strong guttural sound — say "cup" without the "p".
Note that Cotton gives kesukod = “a day”.

29 The names for Spirits end in -and , -unit, -it, -at . The words for Spirits are based on a contraction or
shortening of the word manit for manito (Spirit). For Spirit Names, see ED 471405 ("Spirits and Family
Relations").

30 "When it is closed up or dense". The same root is seen in word for "overcast weather" ( cuppaquat ).

31 Imitative sound?

32 The Indian "calendar" had thirteen months, based on the 13 full moons in one year (which are
"calculated" on the 13 squares of a turtle's outer shell). In one northern dialect (Abenaki), the seasons
of the year corresponding to our modern names of the months are given in the Trumbull's 1866 ed. of
A Key (footnote 141):

12

month, 2 months ("two • neespausuck npauus 34 • "pausuck" same as

moons") (Narr.) "pawsuck" above

• nees-appasue (Wm. • "2 moneths"

Wood)

month, 3 months ("three • shwepausuck npauus •

moons") (Narr.) • "3 moneths"

_• nis-appasue (Wm. Wood)

month, 2 months, when 2 neesneahettit 35 (Narr.) is nepauus represented by

moons have passed (?) -ne(a)- ?

month, 3 months, when 3 shwinneahettit (Narr.)
moons have passed (?)

month, 4 months, when 4 yowinneahettit (Narr.)
moons have passed (?)

month, harvest month taquontikeeswush 36 (Narr.)

month, spring month sequanakeeswush (Narr.)

month, summer month neepunnakeeswush (Narr.)

month, winter month paponakeeswush (Narr.)

X Great-Cold Moon (January); Fish Moon (Feb.); End-of-Fishing Moon (Mar.); Herring Moon, or
Sowing Moon (Apr.); Covering Moon, or Com-Planting Moon (May); Hoeing Moon (June); Berry
Moon, or Eel Moon (July); Moon-of Great-Sun, or Long-Day Moon (Aug.); Acom Moon (Sept.); Thin-
Ice Moon, or Moon-When-Margins-Of-Streams-Freeze (Oct.); Beaver-Catching Moon, or Moon
When-Holes-Are-Made-In-The-Ice-And-Watched-For-Beavers (Nov.); Long Moon (Dec.) *

33 Original text reads Nqnitpawsuckenpauus. Following A Key, (Trumbull, ed., 1866, footnote 41),
nquitpawsuck nepauus seems to mean: nquit = 1 (first in order) + pawsuck = 1 unit + nepauus. Likewise,
"2 months" = 2 (2 nd in order) + 1 unit + moon.

34 Same as word above, spelled nepauus.

35 Is this and next two entries possibly the subjunctive form, -hettit (they); literally, "when there are
two (of anything)"?

36 -keeswush = "season, 'moon', month" (cf. keesuck = "day, time, sky, heavens"). The season names are
then prefixed; see "seasons".

13

moon, the • napauzshad • moon (diminutive of

• Nanepaushat 37 (Narr.) "nepauz = "sun"?)

• wuske nepauzsae • Moon Spirit, "he walks

• paushesui (Narr.) in the night"

• wequashim 38 (Narr.) • a new moon, "new

• yo wompanammit 39 moon"

(Narr.) • a half moon, "it's half"

• pashpishea (Narr.) (of anything)

• weyoun, weyhan • moonlight, "a light-

(Pequot) colored moon"; wequai

(Narr.)= "it is light"

• the moon so old

• the moon is up

• moon

morning • mohtompan • "it is morning"

• mautaubon (Narr.) • "it is day (morning)"

• youmbewe (Pequot) • "early morning"

• nompoae • "early in the morning"

• appause (Wm. Wood) • "the morn"

♦♦♦ cowompanu sin (Wm.

Wood) = "Good
morrow"

❖ weegwasun 40 (Pequot) =
"good-morning"

mud, dirt pissagk pishagqua 41 = "[it is] muddy or

miry"

night nukon, nukkon "descending"

nights (plural) nukkonash

37 Roger Williams uses this word to mean "Moon" & "Moon Spirit". Moreover, the repetition of the
first syllable may be reduplication on an animate intransitve verb which Trumbull likens to "He
rises/stands up" (in Narr., neepouwe).

38 "light-ish". The letters -sh- often indicate something "less than, inferior, a little," etc. For example, the
light of the moon is less bright than that of the sun; could also describe "dull, dim or scanty
moonlight".

39 "Moon that shines till wompan (dawn)".

40 This Mohegan-Pequot word is similar to Narr. asco wequdssin ["may you live happily" (from week =

"sweet")].

41 The corrupted place name Pisquasent (Charlestown, RI), translated as "muddy rocks place," shows
partly this root word.

14

night, by night

naukocks (Narr.)

night, dark, when it is

poppakunnetch 42 or
auchaugotch (Narr.)

separate terms

night, it is night (this night)

nokannawi 43 (Narr.)

♦♦♦ connucke sommona

(Wm. Wood) = "it is almost
night" ;

♦♦♦ connu (Wm. Wood)=

"good night to you"

night, midnight

nanashowatippocat 44 (Narr.)

fragment nashow- from
"middle, between"; 2nd
syllable -na- seems to intensify
"middle" ('exactly the middle')

night, toward

tuppaco 45 (Narr.)&
otematippocat 46 (Narr.)

tuppac-, -tippoc- is root for
"night"; see "night, midnight"

noon & forenoon &
afternoon

• nummattaquaw 47 (Narr.)

• paweshaquaw (Narr.)

• pohshequae 48

• nawwauwquaw (Narr.)

• quattnhquohqua

• forenoon

• noon, "it is half way”

• noon

• afternoon

• afternoon

rain

• sokenun 49 (Narr.)

• zoogeryon (Pequot)

• "it rains"

• "it rains"

♦♦♦ sokenitch (Narr.) =
"when it rains"

❖ sokenonni = "it's
raining now"

♦♦♦ anamakeesuck 50
sokenun (Narr.) = "it
will rain today"

♦♦♦ ahqunnon = "the rain
ceases" (literally
"ceases, the falling
water")

42 "When it is very dark"; -etch has same sense as -otch. ("when it is"); intensifier on "dark".

43 The "present definite" (it is going on right now).

44 "Midway of the darkness".

45 "In the dark night".

46 May mean "time of darkness" or "between evening and morning".

47 -waw = "state, condition".

48 Ydhen Pdushaquaw = "almost noon" in Narr.

15

rain, a great rain & much
rain

• mishunnan (Narr.)

• mishian (Pequot)

* michunnan

* mogkinnon

• "much rain"

• "a heavy but short rain"

• "much rain"

• "great rain"

rain, a light rain

posher (Pequot)

"it rains"

rain, a rain shower

papadtippashin

"there is a shower";
reduplicative form, papa- =
"drops"?

rain, drizzle, mist, fog

nishkenon

"small or broken ("double")
rain"

rain, snow, shower (rain,
snow)

neepanon

rainy weather (see
"weather, rainy weather")

rough (as seas)

koshhesu

"it is rough"

seasons:

the Indian year seems to
have had at least 6 seasons
(A Key, Trumbull, ed., 1866)

• aukeeteamitch ("when
he plants") — seed time

• sequan ("when water
runs again" or "when water
is long?") — early Spring

• neepun — midsummer,
latter part

• nunnowa ("the corn
dries, grows dry") —
harvest time

• taquonck ("beginning of
cold") — fall of the leaf.
Autumn

a papone — Winter

Narragansett words

sky (see "heavens")

49 Sokenun (rain) is from verb "he pours"; -nan , -non , - nnan , -nnon &c indicate "falling water" as seen
in this and next several entries.

50 "This day". Anama may mean "this".

16

sky, clear sky

• pohkok

• pauqui (Narr.)

• "when it is clear";

♦♦♦ pohkok msqui = "the
sky is red"

• it clears (the sky)

snow (a wet, fast snowfall
?)

• sochepo 51 (Narr.)

• soojpoh (Pequot)

• souch'pou (Pequot)

"it snows", the root -ch is
sound of wet falling snow;

♦♦♦ animanaukock 52

sochepo (Narr.) = "it will
snow tonight"

❖ sochepwutch (Narr.) =

"when it snows"

snow (a soft, slow snowfall
?)

muhpoo

"it snows" ( the sound of soft
snow falling?);

♦♦♦ muhpooe kesukod = "a

snowy day"

snow (fallen)

cone 53 (Narr.)

general term, snow on ground;
❖ mudjon goone (Pequot)

= "the snow is gone"

spring or seed-time

aukeeteamitch (Narr.)

"when he puts into earth"; see
"seasons"

spring, springtime

sequan (Narr.)

early summer

spring, this spring last

sasequacup (Narr.)

frequentative form (?) with
past tense marker -up; see
footnote for "weather, cold, it
is"

star, a

anockqus (Narr.)

anocksuck (Narr.) = "stars"

storm , northerly storm,
tempest

• nashquttin

* uhquohquot

• northerly storm

• tempest

storm , southerly storm

sowanisshin

51 Sochepo is probably "snow falling".

52 "This night". Anima may mean "this".

53 Cone is believed to be "snow on the ground" and corresponds to neighboring Pequot (Prince &
Speck, 1904). In Pequot it's pronounced gun with u said like u in "rule". In Pequot dialect, we tend to
hear our c or k sound as a hard g as in "go".

17

storm, wind storm

mishitashin 54

awepesha (Narr.)= "The
storm calms"

awepu (Narr.) = "a
calm"

nanouwashin (Narr.) =
"A great calm (from
storms)"

summer

• neepun & quaqusquan
(Narr.)

• nepinnae

• sequan (Wm. Wood)

• see "seasons"

• "it is summer"

• "the summer"

♦♦♦ neepunitch (Narr.) =
"when it is summer"
(reconstructed)

summer, it is a warm
summer

woenaunta (Wm. Wood)

"it is a warm summer"

summer, this summer last

yo neepunnacup (Narr.)

-up indicates past tense

sun, the (see "moon,"
"heavens")

• nippawus 55 (Narr.)

• nepaz, nepauz

• cone (Wm. Wood)

• meeiin (Pequot)

• munnannock 56 (Narr.)

• from "he rises up"

• from "he rises up"

• "the sun 57 " ??

• sun

• "a name of the sun or
moon"

sun rising

• upposhpishaonk nepaz

• pausepissoi (Wm.
Wood)

• nepaz = "sun"

• "the sun is rising"

sun setting

oowayaonk nepaz

nepaz = "sun"

sun, clear, bright shining
sun

pahke wussumcoe nepauz

nepauz = " sun"

sunrise

• nepauz pashpishant

• paspisha 58 (Narr.)

• waacoh (Wm. Wood)

• "sun bursts/blooms
forth"

• "it is sunrise"

• "the day breaks"

54 "Big many winds"; see "wind".

55 Literally "He rises". Word used for "a moon" or "month", as in neespausuck napaus ("2 months, 2
moons"); keesuck is used for "sun" as a source of light and heat (see "hot").

56 Roger Williams uses word to mean also "moon " & "sun". Root is "alone, by self".

57 Appears to be word for "snow"?

58 Same word for "flower" meaning "He blooms forth". Verbs ending in -s ha seem to be Passive Voice
unless it is an intransitive verb.

18

sunset

• wayaawi 59 (Narr.)

• wa aoy (Wm. Wood)

• the sun sets

• "the sun is down"

sunset, almost sunset

yahen 60 waiyauw (Narr.)

thaw, a

michokat (Narr.)

michokatch 61 (Narr.) = "when
it thaws"

thunder 62

• nimbau

• padtohquohhan

• neimpauog (Narr.)

• singular

• unkquinneunkque
pattohquohhon = "terrible
thunder"

• "it thunders", plural
form, from "to hear, be
heard" ?

♦♦♦ neimpauog

peskhomwock (Narr.)=
"thunderbolts are shot"

thunder, to thunder

peskhommin 63

peskunck 64 = "flintlock rifle"

thunderbolt

ukkitshamun

"makes sound of thunder"

time (see "daytime" &
related temporal terms)

read entry for "day" in
Trumbull Dictionary, pp. 241-2

time, what time is it

tou wuttutan (Narr.) ?

"how high is it [the sun] (what
time of day is it)"?

today, this day

• anamakeesuck 65 (Narr.)

• autchu wompocke
(Wm. Wood)

•

• "today"

tomorrow

• saup

• sauop (Narr.)

• a saw upp (Wm. Wood)

• wompoca (Wm. Wood)

• "tomorrow"

• "tomorrow"

• "tomorrow"

• "tomorrow"

59 To say "when the sun sets, has set," we'd write wayont ("when he goes away").

60 "Almost"?

61 Original text reads Mtchokateh.

62 Mayhew gives a place name on Martha's Vineyard related to "thunder " —Nempanicklickamik, a place
called "The place of Thunder-clefts", because "there was once a Tree there Split in piecees by the
Thunder." (p. 16). Note that Trumbull spells this place name so that he uses i for the e and h for the 1 .

63 Infinitive form. This word means, "to burst into pieces with a noise". We see the root word -shk- (or -
shy- sometimes) to mean "violence, disaster".

64 "Thunder stick".

65 Keesuck is related to "gives life to"; anima = "this".

19

warm, hot (see "hot,
warm")

weather, calm weather auwepp5hquot -quot, -quat related to "day"

weather, cloudy weather matohquodt cf. "cloud"

weather, cold weather taukocks 66 (Narr.) -s may indicate diminutive

form

weather, cold, it is a cold takitippocat (Narr.) "it is a cold night"

night

weather, cold, it is cold • tahki (Narr.) • "it is cold"

• tekiyo (Pequot) • "cold"

• tauh coi (Wm. Wood) • "it is very cold"

♦♦♦ tahkees 67 (Narr.)= "it is a

little cold"

♦♦♦ tatakki 68 (Narr.) = "very,
very cold"

❖ sonkqui = "it is (feels)
cold to the touch"

weather, dry weather nnappaquat (Narr.) from nnappi (Narr.) = "it is

dry"

weather, fair weather • wekineauquat (Narr.) ♦♦♦ wekineauquocks (Narr.)

• weekohquat - when it is fair

(weather)";

wek(in)- or week- indicates
"sweet, nice, warm"

weather, hot weather kausitteks (Narr.) kussutah (Narr.) = "it's hot

today"

weather, overcast weather • mattaquat or • "bad weather"

^ cuppaquat • "closed-up day"

weather, pleasant weather wunnuhquat wunnegen keesuk = "beautiful

day"

66 In Windham County, Conn, is a place called Towcocks (Nipmuck Language) that appears related to taukocks.

67 The ending -es means "little”, characteristic diminutive form.

68 The repetition or duplication of the first syllable ta is a common feature in the Algonquian Indian
languages, referred to as frequentative or reduplication. It is a way of describing or emphasizing
something that is going on repeatedly or habitually. For example, momo nchu ("he is always on the
move"; "he is always moving"). Pogow uttdhig ("drum") is another example— emphasizing the
repetition of the popow sound of a drum.; mameech = "s/he eats a lot"

20

weather, rainy weather

onnohquat

'nnoh- indicates "falling
water"

weather, warm weather

wekeneahquat

weather, warm, it is a warm
night

wekitippocat

weather, wet & stormy

wuttapohquot kah nashquittin

weather, wet weather

• wuttapohquot

• wutuyayow (Pequot)

• wet weather/day

• "it is wet"

wind, a cross wind

mattagehan (Narr.)

matta- = "bad"

wind, a fair wind

wunnagehan 69 or
wunnegin waupi (Narr.)

wunna- = "good, fair,
pleasing"

wind, a great calm

mishaowepin (Narr.)

"great cease of wind"

wind, a great wind

mishaupan (Narr.)

"big wind"

wind, east wind

wopatin 70 (Narr.)

wind, north wind

nanummatin & sunnadin
(Narr.)

wind, northeast wind

chepewessin 71 (Narr.)

wind, northwest wind

chekesu (Narr.)

♦♦♦ chekesitch (Narr.) =

"when the wind blows
northwest"

wind, south wind

touwuttin (Narr.)

wind, southeast wind

nanockquittin (Narr.)

wind, southwest wind

sowwannatin (Narr.)

this wind is the warmest and
most pleasing wind for the
southwest is house of the
Great Spirit, Kautantowwit (in
Narr.) or Keihtanit (in Natick
Wampanoag dialect)

wind, strong northeast wind

sachimoachepewessin (Narr.)

word "sachim" (as in village
leader) means "strong"

69 Wunndgehan = "the thing that is extended (the air or wind) —it is good". Wunnegin waupi = "It is
good— the wind."

70 Original text (p. 86) reads nopatin which we (along with Trumbull) think is probably a mistake, as
wop- indicates 'east"

71 Word is said to come from cheppi or "evil spirit" from which comes this violent cold wind or
"Noreaster" as New Englanders now call it. Storm is used as a symbol of raging warfare; e.g.,
Chepewess & Mishittdshin = “A northern storm of war" (Roger Williams, p. 182)

21

wind 72 , the wind

• wapan (or) waban

• wetun (Pequot)

• waupi (Narr.)

• wappinne (Wm. Wood)

• wahbayoh (Pequot)

• from "what is up,
above"

• wind

• from "it is above"

• " the wind"

• "windy"

wind, west wind

paponetin (Narr.)

"wind of winter"

wind, winds (plural)

waupanash (Narr.)

"the winds"; inanimate form

winter

• papone (Narr.)

• poponae

• papowne (Wm. Wood)

• see "seasons"

• "it is winter"

• " winter"

winter last winter

papapocup (Narr.)

-up indicates past tense

winter, a sharp winter

ahauqushapapone (Narr.)

year, 1 year

nquittecautummo 73 (Narr.)

See footnote for "day, 1 day"

year, 2 years

neesecautummo (Narr.)

year, 3 years

shwecautummo (Narr.)

year, 4 years

yowecautummo (Narr.)

year, 10 years

piuckquecautummo (Narr.)

year, 11 years

Piukquecautummo nab naquit
&c 7i (Narr.)

rearranged

year, the last year

yaunedg (Narr.)

past tense marker?

yesterday (see "day,
yesterday")

72 For names of Wind Spirits, see Spirits and Family Relations (ERIC Document, ED 471405). NOTE:
ending -in, -tin, -din, -sin &c indicates "wind".

73 cautummo = "year"

74 Hypotheses: 100 years = nquit pawsuckcautummo. 2000 years = neese mittannugcautummo. Reason:
following previous forms, pick a number from Roger Williams, A Key Ch. IV, pp. 22-25, and to the
number add cautummo.

22

About the author—

Author: Dr. Frank Waabu. Courtesy of the author at The Naval
Undersea Warfare Center, Division Newport (Newport, RI)

Frank Waabu O'Brien (Dr. Francis Joseph O'Brien, Jr.)
is an historical consultant. He has Indian Status from
The Abenaki Nation (Sokoki and St. Francis Bands).
Waabu is the former President, Aquidneck Indian
Council, Inc. He is a member of and has served as
Council Secretary, The Rhode Island Indian Council,
and is currently a Tribal Member of the Dighton
Intertribal Indian Council. Waabu graduated from
Columbia University with a Ph.D. degree, doing a
dissertation on applied linguistics. Waabu is an elected
member of the New York Academy of Sciences. He was
presented the American Medal of Honor in 2004 by the
American Biographical Institute. In 2005 he accepted
International Order of Merit (IOM) from the
International Biographical Centre of Cambridge,
England. Waabu is a disabled veteran from The Viet
Nam War Era, and makes his living as a career civil
servant mathematician for The Department of Defense.

23

24

Aquidneck Indian Council, Newport, Rio Page 17 of 17

ALGONQUIAN PRAYERS AND
OTHER MISCELLANEOUS
ALGONQUIAN INDIAN TEXTS

Peeyauntamwock <> Micheme kah Micheme

Dr. Frank Waabu O'Brien

Aquidneck Indian Council

ALGONQUIAN PRAYERS AND OTHER MISCELLANEOUS
ALGONQUIAN INDIAN TEXTS

December, 2004; January, 2005

Massachusett-Narragansett Revival Program

A project for the reconstruction of the extinct American Indian Languages of

Southeastern New England

Dr. Frank Waabu O'Brien
Historical Consultant

Former President, Aquidneck Indian Council, Inc.

12 Curry Avenue
Newport, RI 02840-1412
e-mail: moondancer_nuwc@hotmail.com

http://www.rootsweb.com/~rigenweb/IndianPlaceNames.html

This project was funded [in part] by The Rhode Island Council [Committee] for the
Humanities/ National Endowment for the Humanities, Expansion Arts, a joint
program of the Rhode Island Foundation Rhode Island and the Rhode Island State
Council on the Arts/ National Endowment for the Arts, Rhode Island Foundation,
The Rhode Island Indian Council, and the Aquidneck Indian Council.

Front cover picture. Courtesy of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Newport, RI;
© 2004; (left) Chief Blue Eagle (Blackfoot, Abenaki), (right) the author

WUNNOHTEAONK

MAY PEACE BE IN YOUR HEARTS

Copyright © 2004-2005 by Francis J. O'Brien, Jr., 12 Curry Avenue, Newport, RI 02840-1412,
USA. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying.

recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the author. Printed in the United
States of America.

- NOTES -

This short treatise stems from the research of the Massachusett-Narragansett Revival
Program, a project for the reconstruction of the extinct American Indian languages of
southeastern New England. Our intention is to make these works available to a wide
audience. Other related works are “The Word ‘Squaw’ in Historical and Modern Sources”
(http ://www .indianeduresearch.net/squaw .pdf) , “Spirits and Family Relations 1 ” (ED 471405,
http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/Home.portal) , “Animals & Insects, ” “Birds &
Fowl,” “Muhhog: the Human Body, “Fish” & “Com & Fruits & Berries & Trees &c” &
“The Heavens, Weather, Winds, Time &c,” and ” “American Indian Place Names in Rhode
Island: Past & Present,” (http://www.rootsweb.com/~rigenweb/IndianPlaceNames.html ).

I have worked as a lone wolf for 9-10 years on the reconstruction and revival of the
lost and sleeping American Indian languages of southeastern New England. The Aquidneck
Indian Council, Inc., in Newport, RI, was founded, formed, and governed by aboriginal
peoples of North America.

The Council realized that no Indian language annihilated by the harsh lessons of
American History could possibly be regenerated no matter how much IQ from the natural
realm descended on this bloodless ghost. We felt the preternatural and supernatural
metaphysical realms could once again speak, or that one could turn up the volume of the
voices always there.

A language gives the ability of human beings to do anything within possibility. The
capability to Pray, Sing, Name and Speak forms the multidimensional quatrad of all audible
and inaudible human communication within and between the natural, preternatural and
supernatural realms of being and doing. To say it another way — Praying, Singing, Naming
and Speaking are the gifts of the Creator available to men, woman and children of this land.

In this paper, I give some examples of my pyrrhic victories over the past decade,
funded by various local, State and Federal agencies.

My interest and commitment to this fugitive area of research has always been guided
by my spiritual vision, which I have put as a poem:

On What American Indians Want Today

They want to dry the tears that drowned the Sun
They want laughter to return to their hearts
They want to go home — to Mother and Grandmother
They want to hear their Ancestral Voices ‘round the Fire

— Moondancer, Wampumpeag (1996). Newport, RI: Aquidneck Indian Council, 1996.

While Mastagoitch still dwells within my aging heart, I will continue to sing the
praises of the Great Spirit and God Almighty.

1 Errata sheet not included; write to author

Aho! <> Wunnetu nitta

Frank Waabu O’Brien (Dr. Francis Joseph O’Brien, Jr.)
Newport, Rhode Island
January 11, 2005

TABLE OF CONTENTS

<Page numbers not assigned by author>

I The Lord’s Prayer

II Traditional Wampanoag Prayer

III Thanksgiving Prayer

IV Monument Translation

V Kehchisog

VI Keihtanit- co m

VII Traditional Rabbit Story

VIII Powwow Speech

IX Nunnooham Wutche Ahki

X On What Americans Want Today

XI Contributions of the Wampanoag and New England Indians To America
References

A Final Note: the scholarly word “extinct”

About the author

ALGONQUIAN

PRAYERS

&c

Dedicated to

the Memory of Cjegktoonupa (Slow Turtle)
Supreme Medicine Man of the Wampanoag Nation

THE LORDS PRAYER

From —

John Eliot (1669). The Indian Primer; or, The Way of Training up of our Indian Youth in the
good knowledge of God, in the knowledge of the Scriptures and in the ability to Reade.
Cambridge, Massachusetts. Reprinted Edinburgh, Scotland: Andrew Elliot, 1880. [Courtesy
of The John Carter Brown Library at Brown University].

Our Father which art in Heaven
Hallowed by thy Name
Thy Kingdom come

Thy will be done in Earth, as it is in Heaven
Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our tresspasses,

as we forgive them that tresspass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the Kingdome,

the Power, the Glory, for ever.

Amen.

Ncoshun kesukqut

Wunneetupantamunach koowesuonk
Peyaumcoutch kukkeitassootamcoonk.

Toh anantaman ne naj okheit, neane kesukqut.
Asekesukokish petukqunnegash assaminnean yeu kesukok
Ahquontamaiinnean nummatcheseongash,

neane matchenehikqueagig nutahquontamanounonog.
Ahque sagkompagininnean en qutchhuaonganit,
webe pohquohwussinnan wutch matchitut;

Newutche keitassootamcoonk, kutahtauun,

menuhkesuonk, sohsumoonk micheme kah micheme
Amen.

The symbol co stands for the letters “oo” as in food or
moody.

Taught by Cjegktoonupa (Slow Turtle), Supreme Medicine Man of the W amp anoag Nation

Nuppeantam

Keihtanit, nummag ne wuttamauog

Ohke, nummag ne wuttamauog

Okummus nepauzshad, nummag ne wuttamauog

Wuttootchikkinneasin nippawus, nummag ne wuttamauog

Taubot neanawayean

Nummag ne wuttamauog adt yau ut nashik ohke:

wompanniyeu

sowanniyeu

pahtatunniyeu

nannummiyeu

Taubot neanawayean newutche wame netomppauog:

neg pamunenutcheg

neg pamompakecheg

puppinashimwog

mehtugquash kah moskehtuash

namohsog

Quttianumoonk weechinnineummoncheg :

ahtuk

mosq

mukquoshim

tunnuppasog

sasaso

Keihtanit, nummag ne wuttamauog
06 is oo as in "foot"

sasaso is Western Abenaki (Gordon Day, 1995)

Mother Earth, I offer this tobacco
Grandmother Moon, I offer this tobacco
Grandfather Sun, I offer this tobacco
I thank you

I offer this tobacco to the four directions
to the east
to the south
to the west
to the north

I thank you for all my relations:

the winged nation

creeping and crawling nation

the four-legged nation

the green and growing nation

and all things living in the water

Honoring the clans:

the deer

the bear

the wolf

the turtle

the snipe

Great Spirit, I offer this tobacco

I pray

Great Spirit, I offer this tobacco

THANKSGIVING PRAYER

Aquidneck Indian Council, 1997

Keihtanit

Taubot neanawayean yeu kesukuk

Taubot neanawayean ohke

Taubot neanawayean okummus nepauzshadd

Taubot neanawayean wuttootchikkinneasin nippawus

Taubot neanawayean newutche yau ut nashik ohke:

wompanniyeu

sowanniyeu

pahtatunniyeu

nannummiyeu

Taubot neanawayean newutche wame neetompaog:

neg pamunenutcheg

neg pamompakecheg

puppinashimwog

mehtugquash kah moskehtuash

namohsog

Quttianumoonk weechinnineummoncheg :

ahtuk

mosq

mukquoshim

tunnuppasog

sasaso

Keihtanit

Taubot neanawayean yeu kesukuk
06 isoo as in "foot"

sasaso (Western Abenaki)

I thank you for Mother Earth
I thank you for Grandmother Moon
I thank you for Grandfather Sun
I thank you for the four directions:
the east
the south
the west
the north

I thank you for all my relations:

the winged nation

creeping and crawling nation

the four-legged nation

the green and growing nation

and all things living in the water

Honoring the clans:

the deer

the bear

the wolf

the turtle

the snipe

Great Spirit

I thank you today

Great Spirit
I thank you today

MONUMENT TRANSLATION

Sponsored by the

Rhode Island Committee for the Humanities, 1997

[The Aquidneck Indian Council was contacted by Deputy Director Jane Civens of the Rhode Island
Committee for the Humanities (RICH) in 1997, to participate in a unique humanities project. The
Committee desired to show the multicultural diversity within the City of Providence in The State of
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. In the State capital. Providence, about 25 different human
languages are spoken by the city’s inhabitants. The Committee commissioned a monument
commemorating this rich cultural diversity, and embracing the Spirit of The City of Providence as a
refuge or haven for all peoples. Organizations representing these different language and cultural
groups were given the task of translating into their own language the English phrase “A Refuge for
All”.

MENUHKON O G WUTCHE WAME

was the Council’s translation of the phrase “A Refuge for All”. The translation is documented to
mean “a stronghold (or fort) [noun, abstract] for all/everyone”). The font and size and ensemble of the
carved-lettering is not recalled by the author. The linguistic construction is written in the extinct
southeastern New England Algonquian, derived from the John Eliot “Indian Bible”. The three-word
Indian language phrase is hand-carved on a small stone-tablet (among the other language translations)
within the monument grounds. The outdoor permanent monument is situated in Providence, RI on
Canal Street, adjacent to the Providence River, just outside the entrance to a Rhode Island School of
Design (RISD) auditorium building. It is the only local Indian language translation of this extinct
language ever created for a public monument by American Indians within the State. Jane Civens, the
RICH/National Endowment for the Humanities, is acknowledged for this important humanities work.
It was one of the highlights of our Council’s public works.]

+ -fr -0- -fr

KEHCHISOG

From Moondancer ( 1996) Wampumpeag
Translated by Aquidneck Indian Council

The Elders

Kehchisog

The Elders pray for the rising of the sun
The Elders pray for the setting of the sun
We pray for the Elders
“Elders, please pray for the rising of the sun”
“Elders, please pray for the setting of the sun”
The sun rises
The sun sets
The Elders pray

oo = oo as in “food”

Kehchisog peantamwog wutche pashpishont
Kehchisog peantamwog wutche wayont
Nuppeantamumun wutche Kehchisog
“Kehchisog nissimun peantamcok wutche pashpishont”
“Kehchisog nissimun peantamcok wutche wayont”

Nepauz pashpishau
Wayau

Kehchisog peantamwog

KEIHTANIT-oom

Translated 1998

O Spirit

Keihtanit- co m

0 Spirit

That gives us our breath
Watch over us

Keihtanit- oo m
magunutche nashaiionk
wadchanish

0 Spirit

That gives us our food
Watch over us

Keihtanit- oo m

magunutche meechummuonk
wadchanish

0 Spirit

That gives us our family
Watch over us

Keihtanit- oo m

magunutche weechinnineummoncheg
wadchanish

0 Spirit

That gives us our happiness
Watch over us

Keihtanit- oo m
magunutche wunnegenash
wadchanish

0 Spirit

That makes all living
Watch over us

Keihtanit- oo m

magunutche pomantamooonk
wadchanish

0 Spirit

That makes us onewith you
Watch over us

Keihtanit- oo m

kesteau yau ut nashik ohke
wadchanish

0 Spirit

You are the only One
Watch over us

Keihtanit- oo m
pasuk naunt manit
wadchanish

oo = oo as in “food”

NOTE : wadchanish is imperative, singular (you); its function is as a universal personal
referent

THE RABBIT STORY

“The Rabbit Story” is an old Algonquian legend. It was selected from the famous
recording of the history and culture of New England Indians made by Princess Red Wing of
the House of Seven Crescents [Courtesy of Mary Benjamin].

Princess Red Wing was the best known educator among our people. She was well
honored in her lifetime — she knew Eleanor Roosevelt, Senators, Governors, and many other
people. She was the first Native American woman to address the League of Nations in New
York. Princess Red Wing was inducted into the RI Hall of Fame, listed in Who’s Who in the

World, and many more honors.

Translated by Aquidneck Indian Council. Reprinted in Gatherings: The En’owkin Journal of
First North American Peoples, Vol. IX, Fall, 1998. This translation effort was the first attempt to use
the grammar, and, as such, is primitive. But the Algonquian-speaking Native children of Canada
understood it.

Unnehtongquat Papaume Mohtukquas ernes

Pasuk kesukadt ’ninnauwaet mohtukquas e me s quequeshau. Ho moocheke

tohkoi.

Peyau yean anumwussukuppe. Pumukau mehtugq waeenu kah waeenu. Teanuk
waban ootshoh. Sonkquesu. Wussin, “nussonkques”.

Popomshau mehtuhq nano. Naim ushpuhquaeu kesukquieu. Wussin, “Pish
muhpoo.”

Naim muhpooi. Pumukau moocheke waeenu kah waeenu anumwussukuppe.
Togkodtam muhpoo manunne.

Naim sau u num onk tohkootaau mehtugq yeuyeu onk kussukkoueu. Koueu
noadtuk. Tookshau. Muhpoo mohtupohteau. Quinnupohke ashkashki.

Noh wahteunk mohtukquasog, wahheau nag na sohqutteahhauhaog. Nagum nont
qushitteaonk. Mat queshau wutche mehtukq. Paskanontam. Yanunum
wuskesukquash onk queshau wutche mehtukq.

Tiadche petshau kenompskut. Wussissetoon kuhkukque musqueheongane.

Yeuyeu nishnoh mohtukquas mahche pohki kuhkukque mussisstoon — mahche
neese kuhkukque mussisstoonash.

Asuh ahquompak kepshont wusseettash waapemooash adt wuhhog. Yeuyeu
nishnoh mohtukquas onk nishnoh “Easter Bunny” mahche neese tiohquekekontash.

Aoog adt touohkomuk onk nok wompiyeuash dtannetuog ut anumwussukuppe
nummukkiog Indiansog newutche mohtugquas e mesog wussukqunnash.

Kesteausu

The Rabbit Story

A little rabbit went out to walk on a cool day in the Fall. Oh, it was real cool.

And he came to a willow tree, and so he began to dance around and around. Well, by
and by the wind came up and he began to shiver. “Oh, it’s kinda cool.”

So he danced faster and faster around the willow tree. After awhile he looked up into
the sky. And he said, “I think it’s going to snow.”

By and by it did snow. So he danced faster and faster around the willow tree and
patted the snow all down.

By and by he became so tired that he sat down on a limb of the willow tree and went
to sleep.

He slept so long that when he awoke all the snow had melted and down below was all

green.

Now you know the rabbit is a very timid animal. He was sitting up in the willow tree
and he was afraid to jump out of a tree.

He was very hungry. He shut his eyes up tight and fell right out of that tree.

When he did, he cut his upper lip on a sharp stone. Now every rabbit has a split
upper lip.

But when he fell out of that tree, he jammed his front legs right up into his body.

Now every single rabbit and every single Easter Bunny has two short legs.

But when he fell out of that tree, he caught his tail and now every single rabbit has a
short tail.

Now, when you’re driving through the country in the Spring next year, and you come
to a willow tree and think you’re picking pussy willows .... why all the little Indian children
know that’s where the rabbit left his tail on the willow tree.

The end